The path to death
by Secret Murderer
Summary: Set in Bleedman's Doujinshi. Blossom finds her best friend killed. But this is just the beginning, because death doesn't take a break. And neither does the mysterious murderer that seems to become more cruel with every victim. Rated for safety.
1. Memories and a shock

The story is set in Bleedman's Power Puff Girls Doujinshi. I really like that thing. The animation is great (he was able to make Dexter look almost cute in some of the scenes, can you believe it?). The plot is good too.

Now, for the ones that have never read Bleedman's Doujinshi, the first part of this chapter is a little summary, in Blossom's POV ('cause she's the one remembering), of what happens in the Doujinshi, so you'll have a picture of the whole thing. I hope you'll like it.

This story is dedicated to two of the greatest people around here: The Nimian Flyer and SithKnight-Galen who told me about Bleedman's Doujinshi. Thanks guys!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything, but the plot.

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**The path to death**

Chapter 1: Memories and a shock

She stared at the ceiling, with nothing clear in her mind. She had got into a fight with her sister... again. She looked at the paper she had on her wall. She had made it after they found out. There, she noted every one of their fights and arguments.

She took the piece of paper and noted the fight she just had. "June 19, 2006." She whispered while writing. "The first day of the summer holiday and we're already fighting." She sighed. She turned her eyes to the black clock that was on her nightstand. "11 a.m." it read. "Hm, I've been here for an hour now and our little chat lasted for at least half an hour." She thought. Then she smirked "I should be honored Bubbles woke up so early just to 'talk' to me" she thought.

She closed her eyes and stayed like that for about 5 minutes. Then she opened them and looked at the paper again. Every day was marked with at least two fights. The girl sighed.

"I don't like fighting with you guys" she whispered getting off her bed. "But you have to understand... she's important too."

She went to her desk. It had a neat pile of books on it. She looked through them. There were two math books, one on history, one on science and two novels. She found what she was looking for. It was a photo-album.

She went back to her bed and opened the album. She glanced at the photos. She smiled as she looked at the ones with her and her sisters, when they were little. "I whish we could still be like that." She whispered. "To be friends, to love each other... to trust each other." She continued. She kept looking through the pages. The first ten only had pictures from the time they were still in Townsville. "Maybe it was a mistake to come here." She thought.

On the 11th page there were a few pictures of her new class. Next, pictures of different events: parties, picnics, outings... Her eyes fell on a picture of her and a red headed boy with glasses, both holding up a gold colored trophy. The boy's name was Dexter and the picture had been taken some years ago, when they won their first science competition, working together. The Pink Puff wasn't very sure whether to smile or to frown at the picture.

She remembered how they met: on the first day at the Megaville Elementary school. They didn't have what could be called a good start. Blossom smiled as the memories came to her. They had got into a fight. He wanted a demonstration of their super powers. And, as always, Buttercup was more than willing to give it. He proved to be a real challenge.

She looked out the window flashbacks of that battle filling her brain. At one point Buttercup was losing, though she would have never admitted that to anyone. However, Blossom knew her sister too well to believe her when she said that she could handle the situation. She gave her one of her little lectures. She knew her brunette sister didn't like them on normal terms, not to mention in the middle of a battle, but she had to put her in place.

"But back then, we were a real team." She whispered. She wished that could have stayed the same, but it hadn't. And she couldn't do anything about it. She remembered how all three of them attacked Dexter. She wanted to finish the fight as fast as possible. She had been very surprised when he wasn't knocked out by their attack.

She wondered what would have happened if their fight would have continued. But it didn't. One of the teachers had stopped them. At that moment she thought that they'd get detention, but luckily Professor Jack was a nice person and didn't punish them on their first day.

The image of the teacher popped in her mind. He was tall and well built. His raven hair was always in a ponytail and his eyes always held a kind look. She smiled. He even had a fan club. She sometimes wondered if he knew this.

She turned around, now staring at the wall. He was a very good person. She remembered the little dog he was taking care of. Bubbles immediately took a liking in the little pink doggy named Courage.

But he had proven that he could be tough too. After they met Courage, Bubbles went to play with him and that was when a monster attacked her. The dog came back and tried to tell them about it by doing a lot of funny stuff. The little animal always made her laugh. But back then, there was nothing to laugh about. She understood what the creature was saying and they all went outside.

The monster had captured Bubbles. Like always, Buttercup got to action, but she was caught too. Blossom tried to do something too, but Dexter had stopped her. Then, Jack came. He took down the monster rather easily and saved her sisters. She eventually found out more about him. The most interesting thing was that he was a real samurai. That really fascinated her.

The next day they met Susie and Tootie and some other girls whose names she had forgotten. They were members of the Samurai Jack fan club and they had initiated a Buttercup fan club, because she had been saved by Jack. Blossom knew that her sister was too proud for a thing like that, but something told her that Buttercup would've liked to be a member of the Samurai Jack fan club too.

Back then she remembered that she had classified those girls as stupid and weird, and in her book they still were. But now she didn't really care. They didn't like her, just like all the others. But she could be a little grateful to them because if it wasn't for them and their stupid little act she would have never bumped into Dexter and, maybe, she wouldn't have the chance to get to know him so well.

She thought of what happened those days. Maybe Dexter would've preferred that she wouldn't have learnt so much about him. She remembered following him in his secret lab and finding a robot girl. Later Otto explained that it was a copy of Dexter's sister, DeeDee, who had died some years before.

She found out that Otto was a time traveler. He took her back in time and "introduced" her to DeeDee. Dexter's sister was somewhat the crazy type and was a real danger to his lab. But she and her little "stunts" were what made Dexter do his best in the lab, always repairing everything and creating new things.

DeeDee was also the one that helped Dexter every time he needed. When he didn't feel right in the lab he would ask for her help. Then, she would share her experience with nature with. Once, before they began their "lesson" she had asked him to promise her that if something should happen to her, he wouldn't interfere with his science to change things. At that time he hadn't understood what she had been talking about, but he agreed to make that promise anyway.

He found the meaning of her words later. His arch enemy, Mandark, had attacked his laboratory with the intention of destroying it. Dexter did his best to defend his lab, but, in the middle of the battle, DeeDee came. She saw that one of Mandark's robots was aiming at her brother. She saved him. "She gave her life for him" the red headed girl thought.

Dexter wanted to save her, but his lab was destroyed. He couldn't have done anything.

He told his parents about happened and about his lab. They hadn't been mad. They were really nice people and they understood.

Dexter had tried to bring his sister back. He hadn't been able to save anything of her body, but that didn't make him give up. He tried to make an android that would be just like DeeDee. He wanted it to be as alive as possible so he began using human organs to make it.

But at one point, something happened. The android talked. Or maybe it wasn't the android that talked. She wasn't sure. What she knew was that it reminded Dexter of the promise that he had made. He stopped his attempts to revive DeeDee.

After that experience, the Pink Puff went to her sisters and hugged them. She realized that if something would happen to either of them she wouldn't be able to handle it. They were a little taken aback by her actions. Buttercup got mad because she thought that Otto had done something to her red haired sister. Bubbles was just surprised.

She had told them to go home without her because she needed to clear her thoughts. She went outside town so she'd have some peace and quiet.

There, she met Bell, another not so pleasant meeting. Was it just her or those things were happening every time an important person came into her life? Bell looked just like a Power Puff Girl. She had long white hair, big white eyes and she wore a white dress, just like the ones her sisters and her wore. In fact, after she got to know Bell she found out that, in a way, she really was a Power Puff Girl.

But back then they weren't really in the position to chat. Bell was there to capture Blossom. They fought. She was really good. She remembered how much the girl cared for a little thing she called Gir.

In fact, Blossom herself thought that the little creature was cute. Back then she hadn't had the time to think of this because more evil creatures had come and she hadn't been able to fight them all. She had been captured.

When she woke up she was in Mandark's hideout. He had tried to use her as bait to make Dexter come to him. The red haired boy came, as Mandark said, and they fought. Blossom learnt that the death of DeeDee made them both suffer. The raven haired boy tried to shift the blame of the girl's death on her brother.

She turned her head back to the window. Mandark had tried to kill her too. He had tried to drown her. And, in a way, he had managed to do it. Dexter had, indeed, got her out of the glass prison where the other boy was keeping her, but it had been too late. She was already dead. She knew that she had been dead. She had seen the Grim. He wanted to take her away, but then DeeDee appeared. She had been rather impressed by Dexter's sister. She had long blonde hair and big sky blue eyes. She had a pair of white angel wings on her back, but the red head was sure that she got those after her death.

The blonde girl convinced the Grim to leave Blossom alive. "Hm, I think I owe her one." The girl thought smiling. DeeDee gave her a great present: her life.

They managed to get out of Mandark' hideout, after he had activated the self destruction of the lab.

They escaped with the help of one of Dexter's friends, Coop. The guy wasn't bad. He was kinda' stupid and ignorant, but he was nice. He had blonde hair and green eyes (**A/N:** are Coop's eyes green or blue? I'm not very sure.) and he was really fat. If there was something that Coop paid more attention to than Megas, his giant robot, that was food, food and again food. It was rather freaky.

After that little adventure, Blossom told Dexter about her dead sister, Bunny. She wanted to say more, to tell him about DeeDee and how she saved her life. However, Buttercup was a "little" suspicious about what they were doing and interrupted them. She smiled remembering her sister's goofy act.

(**A/N:** O.K., for the ones that haven't read the Power Puff Girls Doujinshi, this is, mainly, what happens in it, but it's in Blossom's POV. I hope that you got the point. You should really read the thing in original. I missed some parts that aren't really important in my story, but have an important place in Bleedman's plot.)

She sighed and began looking through the photo-album again. She found many other photographs.

She smiled. So many things had happened since she moved in Megaville. She had lived many adventures and many pleasant moments as well as bad moments. She looked at a photo taken at the end of the 6th grade. Almost all her friends were there: her sisters, Dexter, Otto, Mandy and many others. She smiled. "O.K. it wasn't so bad that we came here." She thought.

She turned another page and saw a picture of her and Bell. They were smiling and holding Gir who looked like he was out of air. She gave a small laugh. She had changed her opinion about Bell a long time ago. And the white haired girl did the same with her.

It happened two years ago. Susie was celebrating her 13th anniversary. She invited almost everyone at school. But the Pink Puff didn't want to go, so she let her sisters go while she stayed home. At some point she got bored of the book she was reading so she decided to take a walk.

She wasn't sure how long she had been out, but she ended up near the town's beach. She sat down taking advantage of the warm night and relaxed.

Suddenly she heard a loud growl and a scream. She opened her eyes and saw that not too far away from her position was a giant snake-like creature with three heads. For a few moments she stood still looking at the creature. Then she saw a white flash and was surprised to see Bell attacking and screaming at the monster.

It had felt rather strange because she had seen the girl act like that way before: when she had taken Gir. She seemed so desperate, so afraid. She really cared for the little thing. She searched for the small creature. She spotted it between the fangs of one the beast's heads.

She saw the monster attack her. She dodged most its attempts to hurt her. But the white haired girl didn't notice the head that was slowly going behind her. Blossom had wanted to say something, to scream at her to look out, but it would've been useless. The monster shot a weird substance at the girl. She fell on the ground, the strange liquid covering her body.

The monster was ready to attack when Blossom decided that she had done enough watching. She charged at the beast full force and knocked it backwards. She never looked back, but she could still remember how she felt Bell's eyes on her.

The monster had recovered fast and charged at her. But Blossom, being the quick thinker she is (**A/N:** I couldn't resist), already had a plan in her mind. She dodged the snake's attack and flew behind it. Then she blew her ice breath at the monster and froze it. Then she charged at the ice statue and reduced it to a pile of ice with one punch.

The red head caught Gir before he could hit the ground. Then she flew to the place where Bell was struggling to get free from the sticky substance. When she felt someone else there she looked up to see Blossom with Gir in her arms. She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped when she saw the Pink Puff putting the little creature down and kneeling beside her.

The pink eyed girl asked the other one if she was O.K. and the white haired girl barely nodded. She had been very shocked. Blossom had smiled at her and blew her ice breath on the substance that was covering Bell. It was frozen in a second. The White Puff was then able to get free.

They both got up and stared in each other's eyes for some minutes. "Thank you." Bell had said. With those words their friendship bloomed.

They had managed to be friends in secret for two years. A part of them wanted to tell everyone that they were friends and act like that in public, but they knew how many problems they would have if they did. Especially Bell.

So they got together in secret, talking, playing and helping each other. Bell loved to hear the stories that Blossom knew. Her favorite was "The Little Mermaid". She always asked Blossom to tell her that story and she always came up with new questions to ask about what was happening and how the characters felt or any other thing that came into her mind.

Blossom just loved her questions. They were always so interesting. She always ended up with a whole philosophy. Although she grew up surrounded by villains, the white haired girl was surprisingly innocent. And that was a thing Blossom really loved about her friend.

The Pink Puff looked up and was surprised to see the sky. She didn't realize that she got out of her room. "Oh, well, might as well take a walk." She thought heading towards the town.

She watched the clouds on the sky. "Two years" she thought. That was the time she had been secretly friends with Bell. But now their secret had been discovered. In a way, she had had more problems than Bell. The White Puff was only given a severe lecture, but she ignored it. That was one of her biggest qualities: completely ignoring anything she didn't want to hear. She wasn't sure that her friend even heard all the things that the other villains were saying.

She hadn't been so lucky. All her friends and her family wanted her to forget about Bell. They never understood that you can't forget two of the most wonderful years of your life. That was the way she classified those years: the most beautiful of her whole life. Now, every time she met one of the people she thought were her friends, they would turn their back to her. "At least now I know who they really are." She thought, frowning.

The worst was with her family. The Professor and Bubbles started a fight with her on that theme every day. Buttercup didn't do it so often, just when the subject would accidentally come up into the conversation. And thanks to the other two, it came up very often. And today was no exception.

Bubbles started the fight by insulting Bell and Blossom defended her friend. After 15 minutes during which she had heard the blonde insulting Bell in every possible way, Blossom lost it and slapped her sister over the face. That earned many screams from the blue eyed girl. This had woken Buttercup up and she came down really pissed and stared yelling and swearing. It ended as usual: with Blossom as the guilty one.

She often wondered how people could act like that just because she had a friend. She was from the other side, but that wasn't important. Bell was a great person and her best friend. And she wasn't about to give up on her just because the others didn't accept it.

The red headed girl approached a small cafe where she used to go with Bell. No one ever knew who they were because they were always dressed up so they wouldn't be recognized.

She went in and bought an ice cream. She sat down at a little table in the cafe and she started to eat it.

Her thoughts drifted to Bell and all they had done together. She really cared for her friend and she was very worried. She knew that, apparently, her situation was worse than her friend's, but that wasn't true. All she got were a lot of fights, but she could handle it. However, she knew that the villains could take action and harm Bell.

She had told her friend about her worries, but the white haired girl said that Dr X. would never let any of the members of the Darkstar Council lay a finger on her. He needed her powers too much to lose them.

Blossom accepted this and tried to calm herself down. She couldn't do anything serious, because she always had the sensation that something bad would happen.

She got up and walked towards the little bathroom in the cafe. She went in. There was no one else there. But she felt like something wasn't right.

She sighed and went to the sink. She washed her hands and splashed some cold water on her face. Then she looked around. It was the same old bathroom. Nothing had changed since she had first stepped in the cafe for the first time.

She sighed again and headed towards one of the stalls. She grabbed the doorknob, her nose picking up a strange smell that didn't have anything to do with the ordinary smells that usually were in a bathroom.

She opened the door and the image that greeted her made her gasp in horror. She took a few steps back and grabbed the sink to support herself. Her eyes didn't move from the spot they fell on when she had opened the door of the cabin. She stared in horror and shock.

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That was the first chapter and I hope you liked it!

Now that this thing took off and we'll see where it goes! I just hope that it won't make me go more insane than I already am.

See ya' in the next chapter!


	2. She's dead

Hello everyone! I don't have much to say. I just hope that you liked the first chapter and that you'll like this one too. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I only own the plot.

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**The path to death**

Chapter 2: She's dead

Blossom stared at the image in front of her for a few more seconds and then shut her eyes. She tried to convince herself that it was just a nightmare. "Please, let me wake up!" she prayed. But it wasn't. The awful smell of blood that filled the air and her lungs was as real as it could get. And she was sure that what she saw was real as well.

She felt despair taking over, but she managed to calm down a little bit. She took a deep breath and counted to ten. Then she slowly opened her eyes to be greeted by the same image that had made her heart stop just a few moments ago. This time she managed to keep her cool. With the price of a huge emotional effort she moved from the sink that she had used to keep her balance.

She took a few steps towards the stall that had its door wide open now. As she got closer the image of the one inside got clearer and clearer by the second. She stopped for a few moments and shut her eyes tightly. Again she counted to ten and reopened them. Her vision was blurred. She blinked a few times. Then she looked forward.

She felt tears coming to her eyes. She wasn't sure that her heart was still working. She felt like falling to pieces. She tried to shut her eyes again, but couldn't. She couldn't accept it even if it was right in front of her. "Please, no." She whispered to no one in particular.

But it was still there and it wouldn't go away. It was real and she felt that it was killing her. She took a few steps forward and stopped at the entrance. She fought hard no to break down on the spot and cry.

There, on the toilet, was her dear friend, Bell. She had her head leaning on the wall behind her so Blossom couldn't really see her face. Her thin legs were widely spread and her pale blue jeans, along with her white underwear, had fallen off and were now only covering her a little above her ankles. Her right arm hung, severely twisted, behind her back. It was obvious that it was broken. The other arm was also twisted behind her back but this one was not hanging loosely, but it was blocked between the wall and the toilet, therefore providing some kind of support for the frail body.

Blossom looked at her friend for several minutes. The more she stared at the blood covered figure the more her heart was filled with horror. She couldn't believe it. What could've done something like this to her? What monster could've hurt her dear angel in such a way?

She took a deep breath and slowly walked into the cabin. She took a closer look at the white haired girl. But now her hair wasn't exactly white as it was stained with her own blood, giving it a ruby shade. The usually serene milky orbs were now closed and her pale face was colored in red from the blood that escaped a big gash which was on her left cheek.

But what caught Blossom's attention was the girl's abdomen. Her shirt had been practically ripped off. The pale color of her bare skin contrasted with the dark shade of the blood which continued to flow out of her wounds.

The red head's eyes fell on the wounds. There was a long vertical one which had been made in the middle of her torso, from between her breasts to a little lower than her stomach. The other cut was shorter, but much deeper. It was made horizontally, exactly under her breasts.

The second wound was the source of most of the blood that continued to run down the girl's body. Blossom slowly reached her hand to try and stop the hemorrhage. It didn't work. The blood ran between her fingers like she was holding a sponge in her hand.

She wiped her hands of blood using her white tank top. Then she took Bell's head in her hand, slowly bringing it in a normal position. She heard a weak moan escaping the girl's lips. Blossom's heart skipped a beat. At first she couldn't decide whether it was just the air coming out of a dead body or if it was a sound made by a living being. She couldn't help but hope.

"Bell?" she whispered almost unable to talk.

"Bell?" she asked again. She gently touched her face with her fingers. The girl's skin was hot, like she had spent too much time in the sun. She touched the bruise on the girl's cheek. She felt the bones move under the pressure of her hand.

With her hand shaking and very scared of what she could feel, the red head searched for a pulse. She felt something weak. But she wasn't sure if it was just her own emotion or if it was really the life running through the white headed girl's veins.

Blossom closed her eyes concentrating. She had to distinguish the two feelings. She sat in silence trying to feel the other girl's life.

Suddenly, without any warning, the girl's body started to violently shake, leaning forward. This made Blossom slip and fall on the cold floor. The girl's body started to bleed even more. The red head desperately tried to get up. Bell's body was overwhelmed by convulsions.

The floor was now very slippery because all of the blood. Blossom couldn't find any way to support herself in order to escape from under the girl's body.

After many failed attempts, the red head managed to get free. She grabbed Bell by the shoulders and turned her around so she would face her. She took the girl's head in her lap trying to stop her convulsions.

Then, as fast as they had begun, the convulsions stopped. It took Blossom several seconds to realize what happened. She looked at Bell's bruised face and then at her closed eyes. She stared at her for several moments, too sacred to move.

After a few long seconds that felt like an eternity, Blossom leaned over the other girl's body. She brought her ear to the girl's mouth. She tried to hear the sound of her breathing. She bit her lip trying to concentrate, praying that she'd hear even the faintest of breaths. She couldn't hear a thing.

Fear and horror filled her mind. Now it was worse than the first time she had seen her there. Her heart was beating so fast that she was sure it would burst out of her chest in any moment. She felt tears forming in her eyes, her vision being blurred by them.

She closed her eyes refusing to cry. "She's not dead!" a voice in her mind said. She listened to it. She wasn't about to let her friend die. She opened her eyes and looked at the girl in her lap.

She began to rhythmically press her hands on her chest in an attempt to bring the girl's heart back to life. It didn't work. Blossom didn't give up.

The red head grabbed Bell's nose and blew air in her mouth. The girl's chest raised a little, but that was all. Blossom tried again. This time wasn't any better. She spit the blood that was filling her mouth the taste almost making her throw up.

She continued to try. She couldn't give up. Her best friend was in her arms, dying. She wouldn't allow something like that. She continued to blow air into the girl's body for several minutes.

The fact of Bell's death was conquering her mind like a deadly disease. She didn't want to accept it, but as the seconds passed it became as clear as day light.

"No! There's still life in her!" she thought. "It has to be!" her heart cried.

She tried an electrical shock. She waited a second and checked her pulse. Nothing. She tried again. She got the same result.

"No! Please no!" she pleaded in her mind.

She looked down at her friend to see the girl's pale figure. She felt the warmth of her body and she couldn't help but hope.

But her hopes were quickly blown away as she heard all the air exiting her friend's lungs and saw a little stream of urine leaving her body.

Her heart sunk. She felt like someone had stabbed her in the heart with a very sharp knife.

There, in that spot, the time stopped for the red head. Her brain took several minutes to analyze what had just happened. The conclusion hit her like a big, hot fire ball, after what seemed like an eternity.

She allowed her tears to leave her eyes and run down her pale cheeks. A small sob escaped her lips before...

"BEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLL!" she screamed her friend's name at the top of her lungs.

She was dead.

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That's it! Chapter two. It wasn't so bad, now was it? I hope you liked it.

Oh, and now that you read this chapter I want to ask you something. Do you think that I should change the rating to "M"? 'Cause I'm not done with this kind of stuff. Please tell me what you think!

See ya' in Chapter 3!


	3. I need you

Hey guys! Here's Chapter 3! I really don't know why I wrote this chapter, but I did. So, enjoy!

Thanks CamillaMB, ultra8, SithKnight-Galen and BlueMiracle51 for your reviews! You're the best!

**Disclaimer: **I only own the plot. Sad, isn't it?

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**The path to death**

Chapter 3: I need you

A 15 year old boy was walking down the street. He had red hair that was slightly messy. His sky blue eyes were hidden behind a pair of glasses. He wore a pair of dark blue jeans and a black T-shirt with the number 25 on it. It was hot outside so he had taken his jacket off a few hours ago.

Dexter had changed over the years. He was still a man of science, but now he didn't dedicate his whole time to it. He had given up wearing his lab clothes everywhere he went and he started wearing normal clothes.

Now he was walking home. He had been at his friend's, Coop, the whole morning, helping him with his giant robot, Megas. The blonde was as fat as ever, but due to the fact that he had spent so much time with the blue eyed boy, he had learned some things from him. He had learnt to be a little less ignorant and think, at least a little bit, before talking. Dexter could say that he was proud of his realizations.

The boy stopped in front of a white house and looked at one of the windows. He stood there for a few minutes, memories filling his mind. He had been in the same position a year before.

It had been a warm night. He couldn't work, nor sleep so he had decided to take a walk. He still couldn't explain how he had got there that night. All he knew was that he had been standing there for some time, though he wasn't sure for how long.

Then she came to the window and saw him. He had felt very weird. For one, he was embarrassed that he didn't really have a reason to be there, but then again, he was happy every time he had the chance to see her.

He closed his eyes remembering what happened there.

Flashback

_A young girl with long red hair and beautiful pink eyes came out of the house. She gracefully walked towards the red headed boy that was standing there. _

"_Hey, Dexter! What are you doing up so late?" she asked giving him a questioning look._

_The boy looked at her for a few seconds and blushed. She was wearing a simple dark pink nightgown that hugged her thin body. He thought what it would be like to hold her in his arms. He blinked a few times grateful to the dark that didn't let her see his blush._

"_I could ask you the same thing." He answered looking in her eyes. His voice was a little weak, but she didn't seem to notice. She held his gaze for several seconds then broke their eye contact._

"_I was working late." She said. "What about you?" she asked looking back at him._

"_I couldn't sleep so I decided to take a walk." He answered wondering why she had looked away when she answered his question. "What were you working at?" he asked not ready for a long silence._

"_Just a project on Ancient Egypt." She answered looking at the sky. _

_He opened his mouth to say something, but he didn't have even one idea of what to say. He couldn't do anything else but stare at the beautiful girl in front of him. He felt heat rising in his cheeks._

"_Beautiful, isn't it?" she said in a dreamy voice looking at the starry sky. He followed her gaze and smiled. "Yes, it is." He answered. _

_He got closer to her and felt her body shiver. "Are you clod?" he asked, while taking off his jacket and placing it on the girl's shoulders._

"_Dexter, no!" She said turning to him. "You'll catch a cold." _

"_No I won't." He said. "And why did you get out of the house like this?" he asked looking at her with worried eyes. He knew that she was a super hero and was almost invulnerable, but he couldn't help it. Ever since she got captured by Mandark, he always got very protective around her. He had almost lost her back then and he knew that he wouldn't be able to handle it if she really died. _

_They stared in each other's eyes for a few minutes. Suddenly, the girl broke the eye contact and gave the boy his jacket. _

"_I think I should go in. I still have to finish that project and you should get some sleep." She said._

_Dexter's heart sunk. He was hoping that they would spend some more time together. "Hn, what were you expecting after acting so stupid?" a voice in his head said._

_But his thoughts were interrupted by the girl's action. He felt her soft warm lips on his cheek. He blushed deep red. _

"_Good night" she said locking their gazes again for a few seconds and then turned around to go into the house. _

_Dexter didn't know what to do. So many thoughts ran through his mind that he couldn't even tell what they were about. Then he did the first thing that came into his mind. He grabbed her hand making her turn around. He hugged her tightly, burying his face into her long red hair. Even though he couldn't see her, he could practically feel the surprised expression she had. _

_For a moment he wanted to smack himself for doing that, but then he felt her arms hugging him back and he almost let out a sigh of relief. He smiled and held her closer. He wondered, only for a moment, what might be crossing her mind in that moment and if she thought he had lost it. His hug was almost desperate while hers was comforting. After a few minutes he loosened the embrace just enough so he'd be able to gaze at the girl in his arms._

_She looked at the red haired boy, not sure what to do. He looked back at her. "God, she's so beautiful!" he thought. He ran a hand through her long red hair and smiled at her. _

"Blossom, there's something I've wanted to tell you for a while now." He said without releasing her from his arms. The look in the girl's eyes told him to continue. "You see, ever since I met you, I thought that you were very special and when Mandark captured you, I... I was really scared... that you would die... that I would loose you. I never want to loose you... I... I really like you Blossom." He said looking in her eyes.

_She didn't answer. She just looked at him with those beautiful pink eyes. "Oh, congratulations boy genius. You just screwed it." The voice in head said. _

_He slowly let her go. "I... I'm sorry." He whispered. Then he turned around to leave. But he felt something grabbing his hand. He stopped and looked back. He was surprised to see her smiling and even in the dim light of the moon he noticed the faint blush that covered her cheeks. Her hand gently held his. _

_Her lips parted slightly as they spoke the words he had dreamt of hearing for so long: "I think I like you too Dexter…" _

End flashback

He sighed, turning his gaze from the house and continuing his walk. It hurt his heart to think of those times.

Now it was all over. When they had found out that Blossom was friends with Bell, everyone was very angry with her. Some actually accused her that she was a traitor. But he knew she wasn't and she would never be.

She had defended herself and Bell from everything that had been said against them. He knew very well that she wasn't the one to give up so easily on something she believed in. And he had learnt that she really believed in her friendship with the white haired girl.

He had seen that Bell wasn't any lower than Blossom. Once, the red headed girl had gotten into a big fight with her blonde sister. He had seen what happened. Blossom didn't like to do what she was doing, he could see that. And he wasn't the only one. Shortly after the red head started to show that she wouldn't be able to handle it any longer, Bell had come. She had told Bubbles to back off and to try to think before opening her mouth. She had said other things about Bubbles, but Dexter had decided not to remember any of them. After that she had taken Blossom away and calmed her down.

There had been other events similar to this one, but Dexter didn't witness many of them. In a way, he was glad that Blossom hadn't let someone who didn't deserve it in her heart. However, he couldn't help but be jealous of Bell. Ever since the friendship between the two girls had been found out of, the red head had given all her attention to the white haired girl.

She had even broken up with him. When she got into that big fight with everyone, he hadn't done anything to help her. He just stood there watching. Now he was very ashamed because of this. But back then he hadn't been. He had been just as angry with her like everyone else. He had wanted her to give up on Bell. He had thought that it was a mistake. He still believed that it was, but he had learnt not to care anymore.

He knew he had pushed her away. She had come to him for support but he had turned his back on her and told her, just like everybody else did, to leave the White Puff. He had told her many awful things which, he was sure, had hurt her greatly. But he hadn't cared about hurting her. He wanted her only for himself and he had been sure that Bell would only be in the way.

He knew that he should be ashamed of such selfish thoughts, but he could not help but have them. He didn't want to admit his fault in the matter. It was so much easier to blame it on someone else… on the little villain that had the Pink Puff on her side no matter what. But no matter who held the blame, he couldn't change anything now. Of all the ways that he could have lost her, he had never thought that it would be this one.

He was brought back to reality by the sound of his cell phone ringing. He got it out of his pocket and looked at the screen to see who was calling. He was shocked to see the name "Blossom" there. She hadn't called him in almost a month.

"Hello?" he answered, wondering what would make her call him. What she said surprised him even more.

"I need you!" he heard her weak voice. He could tell that she had been crying.

"Blossom, what's wrong?" he asked, very worried. What in the World could have happened?

"Dexter, I need you here." She said. He listened to her as she told him where to come. When he asked her again what had happened, the only answer he got was a loud sob.

"I'll be right there!" he said, ending the conversation. Then he turned around and started running towards the place Blossom had told him to go.

All the way to the small cafe he tried to keep his brain from elaborating all sorts of scenarios of what could've happened. By the time he reached the place he was very scared.

"Blossom, please be O.K.!" he prayed in his mind. And he could not help but silently threat the White Puff with a great amount of pain if she had done anything to his ex-girlfriend.

* * *

Done! I hope you liked it! I'll try to update the next chapter next week, but I can't promise anything.

See ya' in the next time!

**P.S.: **For the ones that read my other story "On the right side", don't worry; I haven't given up writing that story. I just have to get some ideas out of my head so I'll be able to concentrate. I'm already working on Chapter 14 and I think I'll be able to update it next week.


	4. Just the beginning

Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait! I was kinda' busy. Anyway, here's Chapter 4. I hope you'll like it!

Thanks CamillaMB and Madame Fist for reviewing Chapter 3!

**Disclaimer:** I only own the plot.

* * *

**The path to death**

Chapter 4: Just the beginning 

The red headed boy ran to the cafe. When he got inside he only saw the owner there. The man saw him and walked to him.

"Hello Dexter." He said. He looked like he had just got over a big shock.

"Hello sir." The boy answered. "What happened?"

"A dead body was found here. I called the police..." the man couldn't finish his sentence because he was cut off by Dexter.

"A body!" he almost screamed. He felt fear filling his body. What if it was Blossom's body?

"Yes. In the ladies' bathroom." The man answered. "It's a real tragedy..." again he was cut off.

"I'm going there. When the police show up tell them to wait 'till I get out!" he said starting to run towards the bathroom. "Please God, don't let it be her." He mentally prayed.

He got to the door and slammed it open. He stared in shock at what he saw. There, on the cold floor, was Blossom holding the body of a thin girl in her arms. From the position he had he couldn't see her face so he didn't know who she was. However, that was not one of his main worries at the moment.

There was blood everywhere. It looked like it had been some kind of massacre there. The thick, red liquid was covering the floor the walls and, most of all, the two girls that were in the middle of the room. He couldn't even imagine what had happened there. He was scared of finding out something horrible.

He stared at that image for several minutes. He wasn't sure if he was awake or if it was all just a dream. Blossom hadn't done anything since he came in. He remembered slamming the door so it was impossible that she hadn't heard him. Maybe that was because it wasn't real. He wasn't sure.

"Blossom?" he said in what was just above a whisper. He had to be sure.

This time she moved. She turned her head so she was facing him. He startled when he saw her. Her eyes were red from too much crying and her face was still wet from the tears that had fallen. Her clothes were covered in deep red blood. His eyes returned to hers. She had been crying so much. He could still see some remaining tears in her pink orbs. But what scared him the most was her look. She seemed so lost, so sad and so ruined. He took a step forward and made a big effort not to slip on the blood covered floor. He opened his mouth to say something, but she interrupted him.

"Close the door." She said in a weak voice. He turned around to see that even though he had slammed the door, it hadn't closed properly. He carefully walked to the door and closed it. The he turned to the red haired girl.

"Blossom, what happened here?" he asked the girl. She looked at him with that lost expression in her eyes. Then she turned to look at the girl in her lap. Dexter still couldn't see her. Silence filled the room one again. He moved his eyes from the two girls and examined the room. There was so much blood.

He had seen terrible things before, but nothing as bad as this. The scene looked like it had been ripped out of a horror movie.

"She was killed." Her voice broke the silence. His eyes turned to her in that moment. He wanted to ask who "she" was, but the girl answered his question before he could voice it.

"Someone killed my angel." She said, a tear rolling down her cheek.

In that moment he knew who was resting in Blossom's lap. It was Bell. The red head always called The White Puff "her angel". He wasn't sure what to think or to feel. He never liked the girl. In fact he was pretty sure that at one point he had hated her. But the idea of someone actually killing such a strong person scared him. "It must've been something very strong." He thought.

He moved a few steps so he could have a better look. Now he could see the white haired girl, though he wished he couldn't. Her thin body was covered in blood and her clothes were torn. The two wounds on her abdomen were visible and they looked even more horrible seen from such a small distance.

"She looks so much like one of us." The girl whispered, making Dexter snap out of his thoughts. The boy looked down at her.

Blossom was holding Bell's head in her lap. She was looking at the girl's face with so much love and care, but he could see sadness and pain too. He was sure that The White Puff's death had brought very much sorrow to the red head. He took a step forward. Blossom was stroking the other girl's hair. The once white hair was now almost red from the amount of blood that was covering it. The boy wondered how she could touch something like that without wearing any gloves or something else to protect her hands.

"You found her?" the boy suddenly asked. He wondered why he asked such a thing. Silence filled the room again and more than ten minutes passed before she talked. When she did, her voice was only a little above a whisper, but the girl sounded calmer than before.

"Yes." She said. "She was in the cabin when I found her. She was still alive, but she didn't last long. She went into convulsions. I tried to help her, but I couldn't do anything. It was too late." Two tears fell from her eyes on The White Puff's cheek. They seemed to wash away some of the blood on her face.

Dexter wanted to say something but he couldn't find anything to say. Maybe, if he had cared too for the dead girl, he would've known what to tell to The Pink Puff. But he never managed to understand why Blossom loved that girl so much and thought that anything he would say could make things worse. The red head was already very hurt by her friend's death and he didn't want to bring even more pain to her.

"She's so warm." Blossom whispered, almost smiling. The boy knew that gave her some kind of hope, but by the look of sadness that appeared on her face he realized that the illusion didn't last. He closed his eyes. The scene was horrible and he could even feel Blossom's pain. He knew that the two were friends and something told him that in the past months the White Puff had been the red head's only friend.

A silent sob made the boy open his eyes. The sight that met his eyes shocked him. Blossom was crying. Judging by the situation that they were in, this wouldn't have been something so surprising, but for Dexter it was. In all the years that he knew her, he hadn't seen her crying even once. The image was breaking his heart.

"Blossom..." he whispered taking a few steps towards her. He had seen some girls cry before. His sister, DeeDee, cried from time to time, he had seen his mother cry and he had watched some other girls crying, but none of them did it with so much art as Blossom did. Her tears didn't fall in waves like the others'. Hers were falling one by one, gracefully, on he pale cheeks. She wasn't loud like most of the other girls. She tried to suppress any sound and the few silent sobs that escaped her lips were enough to break anyone's heart. Her eyes were open and the tears made them look like two pools of pink. And those pools were fixed on The White Puff's fragile figure. Only in that moment Dexter could see how big her pain was.

"It was my fault" she whispered, more to herself that to the red headed boy.

"No, Blossom..." he started, but he was interrupted by the pink eyed girl.

"No! It's my fault! If I had got here earlier, if I hadn't been in such a shock and if I hadn't wasted so much time I could've save her!" she almost screamed, more tears gracefully falling down her cheeks. Despair had brought some color to her pale face.

"Blossom, that's not true..." He tried again, but, as last time, he was interrupted.

"Yes it is! Don't you see? If it wasn't for my hesitation, Bell would have still been alive!" she said in the same tone. "She would have still been here, with me." She whispered, pulling the lifeless body closer to her.

This time Dexter didn't say anything. He knew that if he tried, she wouldn't let him finish his idea. He slowly walked to her and kneeled beside her. She was still crying, but now she didn't make a sound. Only the tears were falling from her cheeks that had regained their paleness. It almost scared him.

He carefully leaned closer to the girl's body and warped his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her.

"Don't cry." He told her, caressing her arm. "Everything is over now." He didn't know why he had said that, but in that moment he would've done anything to make her feel better. For a second he thought he did it. She stood silent for a few moments.

However, after a couple of seconds she got free from Dexter's embrace, pushing him aside. She pulled Bell's, still warm, body in a tight hug. Her tears began to fall again and she let out a small sob. She closed her eyes to calm herself. Then, when she opened them, the tears had almost disappeared.

"You're wrong, Dexter. This is just the beginning." She whispered in a voice that could hardly be heard. "Just the beginning…"

* * *

Well, that's all for now. I hope you liked it.

I'll do my best to update the next chapter this week.

See ya' in Chapter 5!


	5. I promise

Hi everyone! I don't have much to say. I just hope that you'll like this chapter!

Thank you very much CamillaMB for your review! You're the best! And about your question, well, I can't answer that without ruining the surprise. You'll just have to read to find out!

**Disclaimer: **Sadly, I don't own anything but the plot.

* * *

**The path to death**

Chapter 5: I promise 

At the Utonium residence almost the entire family was home, relaxing in the living room.

The Professor was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. He was still the inventor that everyone knew, but now he had got a little old so he wasn't so active like he had been years ago. Some locks of white hair were now visible on his head. He was wearing his usual lab clothes and his reading glasses. He had grown to need them every time he wanted to read something. He raised his eyes from the article in the newspaper and looked at the two girls that were in the room.

Bubbles was sitting in an armchair carefully polishing her nails. She was wearing a baby blue tank top and a denim mini skirt. Her blonde hair was still in the usual pig tails, but it was longer now. She had become even more interested in how she looked than when she was little. She was very good looking even if she was a little skinny. The Professor shook his head. She never wanted to eat properly. She was a cheerleader now. But she never gave up drawing, even if her drawings were now more focused on herself, and she still loved little animals. She always went to see Courage, the little pink dog. "At least she isn't bringing him here to hide him in the closet" the Professor thought.

The man turned his eyes to his other daughter. Buttercup was lying on the floor, playing a video game. She was wearing a pair of blue worn jeans and a pale green T-shirt with the word "Warrior" and two crossed swords on it. The Professor smiled. His dark haired girl was still a tomboy. He had got used to her acting like a rebel, but he would never get used to the loud rock music that was playing from her room. She was still not a very brilliant student, but she was at least trying, so she got rather good grades in most the subjects. She still loved to fight. She had been training with Professor Jack for many years and she had become really good.

Buttercup felt someone watching her and turned around to see her father looking at her. She gave him a look that said "What did I do now?". The Professor struggled and turned back to his newspaper. She turned to her video game. She wasn't really concentrating, but she needed something to distract her attention. This morning she had been training with Samurai Jack. She had been going really well at first, but at one point she managed to slip and fall on top of him. She blushed at the memory. She still had a little cute crush on her teacher. She had never been proud of this, but she wasn't ashamed either. She just didn't know what to think of it, so she never tried.

The brunette's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door being slammed. She raised her eyes to see her red headed sister running upstairs at top speed. She thought that there was something weird about the red haired Puff but she couldn't say what. She ignored the weird smell that her nose had picked up.

"What's up with her?" the blonde asked.

"No idea." The green eyed girl answered, keeping her gaze on the stairs for a few more seconds and the getting back to her game.

The red head ran to her room. She got to the door and went in. She looked through her dorm. Everything was so tidy. Anyone could say that it was her room. None of her sisters ever kept their rooms in such order. Bubbles' room was always messy: drawings and clothes were scattered in every corner. Buttercup's room looked like a bomb had exploded inside: everything was thrown everywhere and you couldn't find anything, not even the floor. Only Buttercup could ever live in there.

The girl went to her desk and opened one of the drawers. She started looking through it. There were a lot of books there, mainly science books. She took out some of them knowing that the book she wanted was there. As she did this, memories came into her head.

Flashback

_She stood there some more moments. She held her friend's lifeless body close to her. Bell's body was very hot and she wondered how this could be. The girl's body should've become colder long ago. But the girl's delicate form was so hot that it seemed like it had spent too much time in the sun. She ran her hand through her hair that was almost red from all the blood._

_She felt a pair of eyes on her and turned to see that Dexter was still on the floor, looking at her. She could tell that he was a little hurt because of how she had acted. But at that moment she didn't have the time to think of this. She placed her friend's head in her lap and ripped a part of her own top. She turned to the boy that was looking at her with wide eyes. She ignored this._

"_Here. Wet this." She told him handing him the white mattress that had blood all over it. He looked at her for a couple of moments without doing anything. Then he nodded and took it. He went to the sink. He got the water running and made sure to clean the mattress as well as he could, before he handed it to Blossom. _

_She took it and began wiping the blood off her friend's face. She wanted to clean her up at least a little bit. _

"_What do you think that happened?" she heard Dexter's voice._

"_I'm not sure." She answered not even looking at him. For some minutes, silence filled the small room as Blossom wiped the blood on her friend's face and Dexter just felt weird. _

"_But I want to find out." She broke the silence. She looked at the boy who was looking back at her. "Can I use your lab?" she asked. He wondered why she had even asked. He was almost sure that she already knew his answer. _

"_Of course." He said getting a little closer to her. At the sound of those words, Blossom got up holding the other girl's body in her arms. _

"_OK I'll get her to your lab. I think I could find something useful if I examine her body." The girl said in a more confident tone._

_The boy nodded. They got out the small bloody room. _

End of flashback

She sighed as she remembered this. She found the book she was looking for. It was about all kind of poisons, how they were made and what effect they had. A shade of a smile appeared on her lips as she placed the book on her desk and took all the others that she had got out. She put them in their place and got up.

She looked at herself in the big mirror. She was a real mess. She was all covered in blood and her clothes were ripped. She looked like she had just got out of a big fight. She sighed and headed towards the bathroom.

She got her clothes off and stepped into the shower. She startled at the sensation she got when the hot water hit her skin. It was refreshing and painful at the same time. Refreshing, because she was getting all the dirt and the blood off her body. Painful, because it was Bell's blood and she felt like she was washing a part of Bell away from her. She sighed and shook her head.

She looked down and saw all the blood running down her body. Her pale skin contrasted a lot with the dark color of the red liquid. Seeing that made her remember the way she had found the white haired girl.

"She must've gone through so much pain..." She whispered to herself. She let the hot water hit her body as she watched the dark colored substance running off her. She wasn't really thinking about anything in that moment. Everything was replaying at top speed in her mind.

When blood stopped running off her body she raised her head and let the warm water hit her directly in the face. She could feel hot tears running down her cheeks along with the water. When she felt clean enough she stepped out of the shower.

She went to her room and dressed herself in a pair of black pants and a black, plain T-shirt. She felt that this way of dressing fitted the moment. Her best friend had died. It would be wrong to wear anything else than black.

She took a little knapsack where she put the book she got from her desk's drawer and some other books she took from one of her bookshelves.

After that she went out of her room. She had to tell her family where she was going. When she got downstairs she went into the living room where she found all three of them.

She remained at the door for a few moments. What should she tell them? That she had found her best friend killed in a bathroom? No way! She didn't want to hear Bubbles saying something like "Ha! It was about time!" or to watch the Professor getting all worried about her and trying to hide the fact that he was glad it happened. And Buttercup would just stare at her in a weird way and wouldn't talk to her for weeks because she didn't know what to say. And when she did talk to her she would get mad or she would act strange and make her feel really bad.

A part of her told her that they wouldn't do all those things, that they would understand and that they would be sorry for what had happened to Bell. She was putting all her hope in what her heart was telling her, but she wanted to postpone the event as much as she could. She wouldn't tell them.

Buttercup looked up at her and saw the bag.

"Where are you going?" she asked her sister.

Bubbles looked up too and when she saw her black clothing she smirked. "To a funeral?" she said, looking at her sister with a little twinkle in her eyes.

Blossom glared at the blonde. Then she looked at the Professor who was now looking back at her. "Professor, I'm going at Dexter's. We need to finish something." She said not moving her eyes from her father.

Bubbles, who still had the smirk on her face, threw her a weird look. Buttercup just looked bored. "The first day of the summer vacation and you're already working?" the brunette asked. "Take a break Bloss." She rolled her eyes turning back to her video game.

"Yeah, Blossom. Don't you think it's a little too soon for this?" Bubbles asked looking at her sister with an accusing look on her face and with the smirk on her lips. The red head threw her a glare.

"What are you going to do there?" the Professor asked his daughter as she was making her way out the room.

She stopped on her way and turned around. She wanted to make up something about a scientific project, but when she saw the smirk on her blonde sister's lips she decided not to.

"Watch the news tomorrow and you'll see." She answered and then went out of the room. She was sure that the event was going to be announced the next day. When Dexter and she got out of the cafe's bathroom the police was there. The boy had told them what had happened, missing some of the details. She had refused to let them take her friend's body saying that she could do a much better job that they could ever dream of doing. After that, they got to Dexter's lab and she left Bell there after she had made the boy promise that he wouldn't touch her friend. Then she went home to take some of her books that she thought that would be useful.

She got out the house and looked at the cloudy sky. The sun was setting. She never realized how time had passed. She took out her locket and looked at it. Inside there was a picture of her and Bell smiling widely. She looked at the picture for some time.

"I'll find who did this to you, Bell." She whispered to the image. "I promise!"

* * *

That was Chapter 5. I hope you enjoyed it.

I'm not very sure when I'll update the next chapter, but it shouldn't take me to long to do it.

See ya' in the next chapter!


	6. Alone

Hi! Sorry for the late update. I had some problems with my computer. This little traitor breaks down in the worst moments!

Thank you very much CamillaMB and Xoverguy for reviewing Chapter 5. You're great!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own The Power Puff Girls or The Power Puff Girls Doujinshi.

* * *

**The path to death**

Chapter 6: Alone

Dexter went to his lab after having taken a hot shower and changed. When he had arrived home he had done his best not to let his mother see him. He was sure that if the red headed woman had seen him in the state he had been in she would've fainted.

His mother was a cleaning maniac and would've gone mad if she had seen the mess that he was when he returned with Blossom. But most of all, his mother was a caring and sensitive woman. He knew how worried she would've been if she had seen Blossom and him covered in blood; not to mention bringing a dead girl with them. It would've really scared her.

He sighed looking around the lab. His eyes fell almost instantly on the place where the body of the White Puff was lying. Blossom had made him promise a hundred times that he wouldn't even touch the girl. "It must be very important for her." The boy thought continuing to stare at the bloody figure.

He never knew how close the two girls were. He never wanted to know. After Blossom broke up with him, he had blamed Bell for some time. That hadn't helped him very much. It had just made Blossom angrier with him and made him feel worse. He had convinced himself, after many long inner battles, that the white haired girl wasn't the one that made Blossom make that decision.

That thought made his blood boil. He punched one of his computers, ignoring the pain the action had caused him. He knew that the break up was his entire fault and that made him angrier than he would have been if there was someone else involved in it.

He walked to the area where he kept the medical instruments and got out the things needed for an autopsy. He stopped after a few moments, staring at a little scalpel that he held in his hand. Did Blossom really want to do that? He knew she wanted to catch the one that had killed Bell and make him pay. He knew that studying the dead body could provide some useful information. But the question was: could Blossom do it? Or even be aware that something like that was being done?

The boy wasn't sure. He knew the Pink Puff as the kind of person that does what she has to do. But he highly doubted she had ever been in the position of cutting her best friend's body. Even if it was for the better, will Blossom accept it? He couldn't answer.

The White Puff had been the pink eyed girl's only friend and support for months. The boy thought of his sister. She would've never been capable of doing something like that to such an important person. And he was positive that she wouldn't even let anyone touch someone that had meant so much to her. But Blossom was not DeeDee.

He shook his head. He couldn't believe that he had actually compared the two girls. They were so different, but then again he loved them both, not because one reminded him of the other, but for who they were. He sighed putting the scalpel away with the other instruments. Then he took all of them and brought them to the dead body of the White Puff. He placed them on a little table next to the girl.

He looked at the lifeless body. She looked almost like a natural sized doll. And he was sure that if she would be cleaned of all the blood that still covered most of her body, someone could easily mistake her for a white doll. It was rather strange how the body was still in such a good condition. Judging by the time of her death and the time that had passed since she had been discovered, anyone that knew at least something about death would be very surprised to see the excellent condition the girl's body was in. She looked like she had died only half an hour ago.

The sound of the door opening interrupted his thoughts. He turned around to be greeted by the sight of Blossom, dressed only in black, with her hair still a little wet and with her eyes staring into space. For a moment he was surprised to see her like that. However, as that moment passed he wondered why he had thought of something like that. In fact, he mentally lectured himself for not expecting this. He was aware only of a little part of what had been between the two girls, but that was enough to think that in such a situation the red headed girl would be very depressed.

They stayed like this for several minutes. Dexter was looking at Blossom with worried eyes. Blossom was staring into space, somewhere behind the boy, looking like she hadn't even noticed him. Feeling like he wouldn't be able to handle it for long, the red headed boy began walking towards the girl. She didn't seem to notice the change. Even when Dexter blocked her view she continued to stare like she was looking right through him.

Only when the boy got in front of her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder, she seemed to notice where she was. She raised her eyes and locked her gaze with his. For a moment the blue eyed boy was scared to do anything, feeling like something was wrong. Was it a good idea to let Blossom do it? He wasn't sure, but if she wanted to do it he knew that he wouldn't be able to stop her.

"Blossom?" he said in a tone that was just above a whisper. Her eyes, which had been practically empty until then, gained a questioning look as she continued to stare at him.

"Are you O.K.?" he asked. He had got closer to her body and now he was almost hugging her. The sensation of her cold skin scared him, but he didn't let go.

"Yes, I'm fine." She answered with an emotionless voice. He ran his hand through her long hair. She didn't react. It was like she didn't even notice what he had just done... like she didn't even know that he was there. The thought made the boy shiver. He opened his mouth to say something, but got interrupted by the red headed girl.

"You haven't touched her, have you?" she asked, her attention now directed to the boy in front of her.

Dexter was a little taken aback by the question. He really hadn't expected something like that. He rather thought that she would be sad, that she would ask for moral support. But no. The first thing that she had asked him was if he had kept the promise he had given her. He felt hurt by this. Didn't she trust him? He had been by her side so many times…

"No, I haven't." He answered, without managing to hide the hurt and offence he felt. Blossom ignored his tone and the look in his eyes. She nodded absently and began walking towards the dead body of her friend. Dexter watched her. Her walk was slow but resolute. He followed her.

Blossom stopped near the White Puff. She looked at the body that, just a few hours ago, had been a living girl. She still had the aspect of a living being; death hadn't stolen her beauty or the innocent look on her face. The girl reached her hand and touched her friend's cheek. She startled at the hot skin that her hand found.

Her heart pounded hard in her chest. Something in her head was screaming at her that the girl was still alive and only asleep. But she didn't listen. She knew all to well what had happened and wasn't going to hurt herself even more by harboring hopes that will just be destroyed.

She turned her eyes to the medical instruments that were lying on the little table. Did she want to do this? She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She reviewed, in her mind, all that had happened. She had found Bell in the cafe's bathroom, in one of the cabins, nearly dead. She had tried everything that came to her mind to save her friend, but failed and the girl died in her arms. And now she was about to cut her even worse in order to find the bastard that had done all that to her. She cursed the criminal under her breath, swearing, again, that she would find him and make him pay.

She opened her eyes again. She looked at the instruments that she would use for the autopsy. In ordinary circumstances she wouldn't have made so much out of them, but now, she was almost scared of them. Now, they would cut through her friend's body to find clues that may not even be there. The thought of not finding anything after the autopsy made Blossom's blood go cold. She blinked a few times to clear her vision and her mind.

"I see that you've got everything ready." She told Dexter, who had been watching her from behind. The boy startled at the sound of her voice and at the cold tone she had used. But then he nodded.

"Yes, I did." He said getting a little closer to her. "We can begin anytime you want..." he continued, but the girl didn't let him finish.

"No." She said in a firm voice. The boy thought that she had changed her mind and didn't want to do the autopsy anymore. Even if this had appeared to him as a possibility he had never thought that it would actually happen. Blossom had said that she wanted to check up the body and she usually kept her word. But in that moment he could understand the girl's decision to stop and had to admit that he was a little scared too.

"It's O.K." he said placing a hand on her shoulder. "If you don't want to do this you don't have to. We could try to find the criminal without that autopsy..." again she didn't let him finish.

"No." She said again, in the same firm voice. She turned to face him and the boy could see the determination in her eyes. She never had that look in her eyes if she was going to give up something.

"I will do the autopsy. No offence Dexter, but this is personal." She said looking in his eyes.

"But won't you need help? I know more about..." he began to protest but got cut off.

"I have all I need to know right here." She said showing him the books she had brought. "Don't take it personally Dexter, but I don't want to let someone else with her." The girl said in a gentler voice, motioning to the White Puff. "You have to understand that she in my best friend, that she has been attacked and that she has died in my arms. I can't forgive myself for this. Of all people, I had to protect her more than anything else, because I cared for her more than for my own life. But I didn't... I wasn't able to save her from the one that did this to her." She continued, involuntarily motioning to the girl's open wounds. "Now, it is my duty to find who did this to her and make him pay. Do you understand? It's my job and no one else's."

"I... I understand..." Dexter said, not very sure if that was the truth.

"I'm happy to hear this." She smiled a bit. "That means you understand I won't let anyone help me. I'll do this alone." She said in her firm tone. The boy seemed a little disappointed. Then an idea came into his mind.

"What if the one that killed Bell will attack again?" he asked. The girl seemed to think about the possibility, for a few seconds.

"If this happens, I promise that I'll tell you everything that I will find. But if it doesn't you must promise that you won't try to interfere in my work, that you will let me do everything I have to do without even trying to find out what I'm doing. Will you do that?" she said. He looked at her, paralyzed, for several seconds. He wanted to help her, to get close to her, but her verdict showed him that wasn't possible, that she wanted to work alone. And the look in her eyes showed him that he didn't really have a choice. He sighed.

"O.K., I promise." He answered. "But remember that I'll always be here if you need something." He told her. She nodded and he hugged her. She didn't react and he understood that nothing was going to make her change her mind. He let her go and headed to another part of the lab, intending to get some work done. He knew that if he tried to sleep he wouldn't even be able to close his eyes.

Blossom watched him as he went away. She knew that he wouldn't disturb her, at least not that night. She turned around and faced the dead body of the girl that had been the most important being in her life. She sighed, walking closer to her.

"Bell..." she began. "... I'm sorry for what I'm going to do, but I have to. Someone did this to you and I want to find out who. And don't worry, I will, and I won't make any mistakes. But for that I need to take a look inside you, to see if he has left any traces. You'll forgive me, won't you?" Blossom said stroking the other girl's cheek. Then, she bent down and kissed her, still warm, forehead.

She got up, feeling a little better after she had told her friend what she was going to do. She knew that the girl was dead, but felt that it wouldn't be fair if she didn't tell her what was happening. And she was sure that, wherever she was, she could hear her and she had given her permission to do it.

The red head smiled a little and began her work.

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Well that was all for now. Blossom started her investigation and she wants to be alone. We'll just have to wait and see how far this will get. And since I'm the one writing this story you can be sure that it will go far enough.

I honestly don't know when I'll update the next chapter. I still have some work to do and it's possible that I'll have leave town next week. It all depends on my parents. 'Till then I'll try to update, but I can't promise anything.

See ya' in Chapter 7!


	7. The news

Hey everyone! I'm back with Chapter 7! I hope you'll enjoy it!

Thank you very much CamillaMB for your review. It was really nice.

**Disclaimer:** The old stuff.

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**The path to death**

Chapter 7: The news

The morning sun was shining above the big city of Megaville. It was still very early and not many of the citizens had woken up. One of the early birds was Professor Utonium. The man was in the living room, looking over some of his notes.

He yawned and put his notes down. He hadn't slept very well. He had to admit that he was a little worried about what Blossom had said the night before. He doubted that she had gone to Dexter's house. He knew that the two had broken up a few months ago and they hadn't remained very good friends because of Blossom's relationship with Bell. So why would she go to his place on the first day of vacation to finish a project, that they probably had never worked on?

Since the moment she had told him this he had doubted that she had spoken the truth. "She probably went off with that little criminal." The man sighed. But the night before he hadn't done anything to stop her leave. But then again why would he even try? He knew that his daughter was stubborn even in normal circumstances and when it came to the White Puff she was more stubborn and than ever.

If he remembered well, she had never been so determined before, not even when she convinced him to let her be with Dexter. When she first told him about them being together he got all protective about her and tried to convince her to give up, but she didn't. Back then he didn't want to accept the fact that his girl was growing up. But then again it had been a little absurd of him to act like that and around Blossom too. Out of the three Puffs she was the most mature and also was the last one that got a boyfriend.

After that he had realized that, in fact, he was only afraid that he would loose her. It proved wrong, because nothing had changed too much. She had already been spending a lot of time in Dexter's lab, working with him and he had got used to it. So the few more hours that she was out with him weren't too hard to get used to either.

But when everyone found out about the fact that she and Bell were friends, things changed a lot. He hadn't been able to accept, and still wasn't, that his daughter was involved with a villain. In his opinion, it was very wrong. On some occasions he tried to talk some sense in her, but he always ended up yelling at her and forbidding her to ever see the girl again. Of course Blossom never listened to this kind of things and she continued to meet with Bell.

And the other Puffs were pretty similar in reactions. They began arguing with her almost every time they had the chance. Bubbles maintained this habit, but Buttercup got bored of it. The brunette was never able to win any of the arguments so she gave up trying to start one every time she saw her sister. She only got involved in the fights that had already started. In everyday-life she was doing her best to ignore the red head as much as possible.

Bubbles, on the other hand, never got tiered of what she was doing. She never missed even one occasion to make a comment about Blossom or about Bell. She never won any of the fights either, but she never got bored of it. If the Professor hadn't disapproved the friendship between the two girls he would've considered the blonde's behavior rude. But since he approved of his blue eyed daughter's point of view, he never stopped to think about things like these.

He sighed. "I wonder what they are doing… ?" he asked himself. "Watch the news tomorrow and you'll see." He recalled her saying. He shook his head. "God, what in the world are they up to?" he said out loud.

"Who?" the man heard someone behind him. He turned around to see Buttercup still in her P.J.-s with her hair ruffed and with a sleepy look on her face.

"What are you doing up so early?" the Professor asked. Buttercup wasn't really a morning person.

"I forgot to turn off the alarm from my clock. A habit I developed in school." She yawned. "So who were you talking about?" she asked again.

"About your sister." The man answered.

"Bubbles? She's been home since 3 in the morning. She woke me up when she came back." The brunette said.

"I wasn't talking about Bubbles." The Professor said.

"Um- Blossom? Wasn't she at Dexter's?" the girl asked taking a seat.

"I doubt that she is at Dexter's house." That tall man said.

"Where else should she be?" the Green Puff asked, still too sleepy to think straight.

"I think she's with that girl." The Professor said, as Buttercup was turning on the television. The girl opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped, seeing what was on T.V.

"Yesterday, in one of the town's cafés, a dead girl was found. She was found in the bathroom by one of our local heroes: Dexter (**A/N:** I don't know Dexter's first name) and the ex-hero Blossom Utonium. The body was not handed to the police, for reasons that we are not aware of. However, sources say that the dead girl might be one of the members of the DarkStar Council: Bell. In this case let's hope that our sources are right." The news reporter said.

The Professor and Buttercup stared at the screen as the reporter presented the few details that were known. Out of all the things that his mind made up as possibilities, the Professor had never thought that was the reason for which Blossom had left last night.

"Hn... so she was going to a funeral after all." The two heard a voice behind them. The turned to see Bubbles, still in her night gown looking at the T.V.'s screen. Though she tried to seem uninterested, the two could see that she was a little scared. Even with that, Buttercup was upset. She never liked Bell, not to mention her being friends with Blossom, but if someone killed her it was bad.

"Shut up Bubbles!" she said and she got out of the room and went upstairs.

"What's with her?" the blonde asked her father looking at the door that her sister just slammed.

"I don't know sweetheart." The Professor answered.

At the DarkStar Council's HQ, the villains were watching the same news as the Utonium family. But the reaction was a lot different.

"IF I FIND THAT THIS IS REALLY TRUE THAN THE ONE THAT DID IT CAN CONSIDER HIMSELF DEAD!" Dr. X. shouted, marching to and fro through the whole building, walking the other members over in the process. He was pissed. No, more than that: he was furious. And the others knew better than to get in his way when he was in this stage.

He couldn't believe it. The girl had been out since yesterday, but he never worried. She had been out for a week once and nothing happened to her. Of course, when she got back she didn't tell him anything. She just went into her room and slammed the door in the face of anyone who tried to talk to her.

Dr. X knew that when she did that it was because she had had a good time with Blossom and she didn't want to get a bad mood by talking with any of the villains there. But even if she was friends with the Pink Puff, he knew, and she had also said it, that she remained a member of the DarkStar Council. She wasn't like in the beginning, when she was so naive and easy to manipulate. Now she had grown up and she could think for herself more than ever. He was sure that the red headed girl was the cause of this and he hated her for this. It complicated his job.

But against all odds, the White Puff had kept her word and never betrayed them. She remained with them and she kept working for them. There was only one thing that had changed: she refused to fight against the Power Puff Girls. That was even before it was found out about her and Blossom, when the Pink Puff was still very close to her sisters. At some point she had refused to fight against Dexter too. Thinking of this made Dr. X go insane because he never figured it out faster. She never wanted to fight against Blossom and the ones she loved.

However, in any other missions she was very efficient. She had never failed one. At that time she had already begun to think more for herself and to depend less on him, like he tried to make her do all her life. She began reading and she sometimes asked him about what some things meant, or what some characters wanted to say with something. Sometimes he would answer her and sometimes he just ignored her. Now, he was sure that she repeated every question to the Pink Puff. And she probably got very different answers that made her think further than the text itself. She was slowly beginning to build her own little universe that he had tried so much to prevent from appearing.

Ever since he managed to get his hands on her (**A/N:** no dirty thoughts people!) he had tried to make her his own as much as possible. And that meant being her whole universe in every possible way. He couldn't let any little part of her mind free from his presence. He realized, too late, that it had been a mistake to let the girl keep Zim's robot, Girr. Bell had got very attached to the little creature which not only that it wasn't really alive, but was malfunctioning too. Fortunately for him, the small robot couldn't corrupt her in any way.

But there were other things that could. He had convinced himself of that. The loss of someone she cared for was one of them. He had seen what happened when Mandark died. Another one of his mistakes. He had been so sure of the boy's success that he had let the little girl grow to care for him, in her own twisted way. Even if in his brain there was a little part which told him that Mandark might fail, he had never expected him to loose his life.

That had been a real hit for Bell. And that was the only reason for which, in the past months, Blossom had never been the target of his plans. He couldn't afford loosing Bell just for that girl. She was just too precious for his future plans.

And that was why he felt like going insane right there on the spot. If the girl that had been found dead there was really Bell then a lot of his future plans were ruined. He sighed, beginning to slow down a bit. With all his efforts to make her depend on him, he was the one that depended on her.

He stopped on the spot and hit a machine with all his force. He left a big hole in the metal structure. He looked in the way of the machine. A little lower than the hole left by his fist was Zim. It was obvious that he had been standing there a few moments ago and he had dodged his boss' punch in the last second.

"Well?!? What are you staring at?!" he yelled at the alien. Then he turned to the others. "Do you think you got a day off?" he screamed at them. "You and you!" he shouted pointing to two of the Council's members (**A/N:** I don't know all the names) "I want you two to find out as much as you can about this!" he said motioning to the T.V. "You!" he said turning to Zim "Help them!" the small alien nodded and got up, still a little scared.

"The rest of you, back to your work!" he shouted with a look on his face that said he would kill the first one that dared to do something other than what he said. Everyone obeyed.

"Now, I'll see if I can find some answers on my own." He muttered, getting out of the room and heading to the exit of the HQ.

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Well, that was it for now. I hope you liked it!

I'm not very sure when I'll update the next chapter, but it shouldn't take too long.

See ya in Chapter 8!


	8. Vendetta

Hi everyone! I'm kinda' late, I know. Oups! Sorry! I just had a lot to do lately.

Thank you very much Xoverguy and CamillaMB for reviewing my last chapter. You are the greatest!

**Disclaimer:** The usual one.

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**The path to death**

Chapter 8: Vendetta

Dr. X stormed out of the DarkStar Council's HQ. He was furious and he didn't bother to hide it. And he had reasons to be too. He might have lost his strongest weapon. And this wasn't something he would accept so easily.

One day! She had been missing for only one bloody day and this happened! The Dr. felt like going insane. What could've killed her? What kind of creature could ever have the power of killing the White Puff!? Of what he knew she was one of the most powerful things in the whole Universe.

He walked even faster, the thoughts about the white haired girl filling his mind. He couldn't understand. How would something like this be possible? On T.V. they had said that the girl was found in a cafe's bathroom. "A cafe's bathroom!" he thought exasperated. The last place that he would have expected to hear that Bell died in was a bathroom. That didn't sound possible to him. The girl was very strong. She wouldn't have been killed without a tough fight.

He felt his blood boiling. He had tones of questions and he wanted answers. He stopped for a second remembering what had been said on television. Now he knew where to get his answers from. He headed towards Megaville.

Blossom looked up from her notes. It was 8 a.m. and she had finished the autopsy an hour ago. Now she was writing down what she had found. She had been right with most of her suppositions about her friend's death and she had found out a lot of useful details about the crime.

She wrote her final observation and placed the little notebook back into her pocket. It was horrible to think that in there lied everything she knew about the crime. It felt scary. While doing the autopsy she had thought about the whole story, from the beginning to the end.

She remembered the way she met Bell, their fight, the way they became friends and all the things they used to do. She never forgot the night Bell managed to get Blossom admit that she actually had a small crush on Dexter. The same night she met him in front of her house and he told her that he liked her and hugged her. She had felt so happy then. When she had said good bye to him she had gone back to her room and told her friend everything about it. They had talked about it all night.

She sighed and decided to go outside and get some fresh air. She cleaned up a little, putting some order between the instruments. Before she went out the lab, she turned and kissed the white haired girl's forehead. The body had finally begun to cool down and it didn't scare the red head so much any more.

She began walking towards to exit of the lab. In her way she saw Dexter sleeping at a working desk with one of his inventions in his hands. "He must've fallen asleep while working." She thought, exiting the lab. She calmly walked outside and sat in the swing that had remained since DeeDee was alive.

She began to absently swing while her mind was drifting into the past. She remembered the stories that she used to tell the other girl. In the beginning there were only fairytales. Bell's favorite had been "The little mermaid". She was always asking to hear it and she always came up with something new to ask about it. The red head couldn't understand where she got all those questions from.

But she hadn't remained only with the fairytales. She had begun reading more and she did it with so much pleasure. The pink eyed girl remembered how Bell always asked something about what she had read, and she would always answer her. Sometimes Bell would tell her how Dr. X answered. She noticed how different the two answers were.

She sighed and looked at the sky. It was so clear. Nothing of it showed what had happened just a day before. "Even the weather is against me." She thought. Her eyes searched the horizon for just one cloud, but didn't find it. Instead she noticed something heading her way. She recognized it a few seconds later. The figure landed in front of her, a few feet away.

"Dr. X." she said as calmly as she could.

"Is it true?" he asked without any other introductions.

"What?" she asked raising a brow.

"What they said on the news!" he almost yelled.

The girl looked at him for a few moments. Should she continue asking what he was talking about? She already knew. And he looked really angry. She remembered that Dr. X wasn't a very calm person when it came down to things like these. So she decided to answer.

"Yes, it is." She said looking in his eyes. She wanted to see his reaction.

In his eyes, there were a lot of things going on at the same time. But the most powerful one of them was anger. His face became even redder and the fire that was burning on top of his head became bigger. He was reaching critical stage. Bell had told her friend about these moments and the things that happened when they occurred. Fortunately she had told her how to deal with them too.

"WHAT!" he screamed thins time, shooting death rays at the girl in front of him. She did her best to keep herself calm. He would calm down eventually if the person in front of him ignored his anger.

"Bell is dead." She repeated in an emotionless tone that required all her self control. Saying those words felt so wrong. Analyses said that she was dead; tests said that she was dead; machines said that she was dead, but actually saying that phrase felt like she was surrendering all her hope.

Dr. X looked at her like she was crazy. How could that have happened?! The most powerful creature in the world... dead. He felt his anger rising even more.

"How?" he almost yelled.

"She was killed." The girl answered. This time she couldn't keep her tone emotionless. Her voice was shaking, but only a little bit. But the man didn't notice. He was too angry to notice anything.

"What?" He couldn't help himself from screaming. He couldn't believe it. Bell... killed. He had trained her, he had done everything to make her unstoppable and now this girl was telling him that the White Puff had been killed. This had to be a sick joke.

"You heard me: she was killed." The red head repeated. This time she kept her cool. The words hurt her, but this time she was more prepared to voice them. She had done it before.

"She was the most powerful thing in this world! No one could've ever killed her!" the man shouted.

"And yet someone did it." The Pink Puff said looking in his eyes. He looked back at her. She seemed so calm. He understood that she wasn't impressed by his outburst. He took a deep breath and clamed down.

"How could she be killed without a fight? She was very strong and I doubt she just let herself be killed." He said, now a lot calmer.

"There is more than one way to kill someone." Blossom said, relived that he had stopped screaming. The man looked at her with questioning eyes. How could Bell be killed, if not in a battle? Like reading his thoughts, the girl decided to shed a little light in the man's head.

"Have you ever heard of poison?" She asked looking at him. The question had stunned him. The thought of poison had never occurred to him. He had worked so much to ready the girl for any attacks that were aimed on the outside that he forgot about the ones that were aimed on the inside.

"She died because of poison?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"No, she didn't." the red head answered. The man looked up at her. "Poison was used just to make her unable to react." She continued, not moving her eyes off him.

"Then what killed her?" he asked trying hard not to shout.

The red head closed her eyes for a few moments as if trying to remember something. She wasn't very sure if she should tell him. But then again it wouldn't hurt if he knew some things. In fact it could really help her.

"A sharp object. At first sight, it would look like a dagger. However, after further analyses it can be seen that it would be impossible. The shape and the depth of the wound aren't the ones made by a dagger." The girl answered in a cold tone.

"Then what was it?" Dr. X asked. He didn't like the way that the conversation was advancing. She had all the answers and he only had questions.

"A sword." The pink eyed girl answered not looking at him.

"A sword..." he thought. Who could've used a sword to kill? Who would poison in order to be able to kill with the sword? It seemed absurd. He wanted to know more. And he knew how to do it.

"I want to see her." He said. The girl raised her eyes to look at him. "I want to see Bell." He repeated.

She looked at him with empty eyes for several minutes. It sacred him. It was like she was searching into his soul.

"Didn't you hear me? I said I wanted to see..." he began but the girl cut him off.

"No." She simply said, without even blinking.

"What?" he asked confused and yet a little angry.

"I will not let you see her. Not to mention touch her." Blossom said, this time a look of determination appearing in her eyes.

"Wha- you have no right to..." he began, but, just like last time, he didn't have the chance to finish.

"As a matter of fact I do have every right to stop you." She said in a confident tone. "You see, she was my best friend and I was the same to her. She didn't care for anyone else. And if you don't like this explanation then what do you say of: I am the one that taught her to think and to live. I know that you don't like it and I know that you hate me for this, but it was going to happen sooner or later. And I have more very good reasons to keep you away from her, but I know that patience isn't one of your strong points so I'll just leave you be with these two." She said glaring at him.

He stared at her. How could this girl forbid him something? What in the world made her believe that he would actually listen to her?

"Listen, I raised her..." but he didn't have the time to finish.

"You raised her, huh? You raised her to be what? Your little mindless doll? Your weapon? What?" the girl's glare became more intense. "Too bad that you weren't able to do that. And you know what? I'm not the reason why she became independent. Your neglect is. You thought that Girr wasn't going to change anything in her but you were wrong. Girr showed her that there could be a world where you don't rule. The same happened with Mandark. And with him she learnt how it was to loose someone. She was feeling and you didn't even notice. When I appeared it was all there: she had the power to live on her own; she just needed to know how. I showed her how to do it, but don't you worry: if I hadn't been here, she would've learnt from someone else and she still would've done it." She said calmly.

Dr. X glared at her, feeling anger rising in his veins. He looked into her eyes and saw the calm determination that always rested in Bell's eyes when they were arguing, in the past months. He took a deep breath and decided to ask one more question.

"What about the one that killed her? What are you going to do about him?" he asked looking at her, a slight glare still in his eyes.

"I'll search for him, or her. You can do it too if you want to." She said.

"Her?" he asked raising a brow.

"It could be a girl, you know. Everyone's a suspect." She answered.

"Really? Well, do you think that you'll find the killer?" he asked.

"I will." She responded with a confident look on her face. Her eyes met his and he was frightened by what he saw in them. "And I have only one word for the criminal: vendetta." The girl said. Then she turned around and flew away.

He watched her fly. "Vendetta..." he thought. "Revenge... a crime for a crime..." the thoughts and memories filled his mind as he returned to the DarkStar Council.

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So, that was it! I hope you liked it! And sorry if I misspelled anything!

See ya in Chapter 9!


	9. Last Tear

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry it took me so long to update! I can't believe myself! I think I never had such a long absence! And don't ask what the Hell I've been doing 'cause I have no idea! Aside from school I've just been wasting my time! Shame on me! I know!

At least I got this chapter done. It's not much, but I still have to go through some things before I get to the interesting part. I hope you'll enjoy it anyway!

Thanks a lot CamillaMB (yes "vendetta" does mean revenge... a special kind of revenge), pabi chan (why?) and Nobody for your reviews! You're the best!

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the plot.

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**The path to death**

Chapter 9: Last tear

Blossom landed in front of her house. She stared at the white building, not even trying to put some order in the chaos that ruled in her mind. She couldn't even remember how she got back home.

She recalled her talk with Dr. X. She frowned, but in the same time she almost smiled. She had won that little battle and she was sure that the man knew that too. And he didn't like it. He was probably confused and furious. This time she smiled. She had always hated the guy for trying to use Bell.

It had almost been a delight to see him so desperate that he had lost his weapon and that his plans were ruined. He was like a child that had had his toy taken away from him, for good, and now he wanted to punish the one that did it. And anyone else who got in his way.

But he first had to find him. She smirked. He was going to try and find whoever killed her angel. "The little kid wants revenge for loosing his toy" she thought out loud her smirk still on her lips. Bell had always told her that it was rather easy to play with his mind… he tried to hide it but almost everyone that knew him, was aware of the fact that he was very short tempered.

Her face became serious again. She turned her head to the house. Everything looked so normal. She wondered how that could be. They probably already knew the news.

But then again why would they care? It was not like something important for them happened. No… of course not. It was nothing that could make them change their perfect lives in any way.

She looked away clutching her fists. She was angry… angry at them… at her… at life… at everything. She barely stopped herself from screaming in frustration.

She turned her head towards the white building. Did she want to go in there? She closed her eyes like that would shield her from all the problems. But it didn't work… of course it didn't. With her eyes closed she could see the body of her friend, back in the cafe's small bathroom, lying in her own blood.

Pink eyes shoot open that instant. The cold blood that she had used in the chat with Dr. X was now all gone. She couldn't bear to remember all that. She wanted to cry but her tears refused to appear and blur the imagines in her brain.

She fell on her knees, not being able to stand anymore. Her heart hurt, her brain was screaming at her something unintelligible. She hit the ground with her fist leaving a hole in the gray pavement. She looked at her hand. It didn't hurt. But she wanted it to.

She gritted her teeth, hitting the ground harder. It still didn't hurt. She let out a short cry of frustration. Short fragments of her childhood popped up in her mind: the Professor comforting her, herself holding her sisters or them talking. She needed this. She needed it more than ever.

Without even thinking, she got off the hard pavement and ran towards the house. She needed her family. She almost burst through the door, expecting to see her old house from Townsville. But it wasn't. It was the entrance hall from her new house… the one in Megaville. She stopped running and slowly walked towards the stairs.

"Blossom!" she heard someone call her. She turned her head to the entrance of the living room to see her brunette sister sitting in an armchair with the remote in her hand. Her green eyes were on the red head and they seemed bigger than usual.

The Pink Puff fixed her eyes into the green orbs of her sister. The brunette dropped the remote on the floor and sat up. For a moment Blossom thought that she would run to her. But she was wrong. In the next second the Green Puff stopped whatever she wanted to do and just stood there staring at her sister.

Blossom stared back at her. She wondered how it would be to run in the brunette's arms and just cry and scream all her frustration and sorrow out. But as she stared into those big green eyes she knew that she wouldn't do that.

The eyes of her sister told her that she couldn't do it. The green orbs held confusion, fear and curiosity. But there wasn't compassion in there. No… not at all. She was scared of what she had found out and she wanted answers. And she was scared of how the red head would react if she asked.

So she chose silence… silence and that visual lock that she knew wouldn't give her any answers. But she hoped. The red head felt helpless staring in her sister's eyes and something told her that she felt the same.

A sudden wave of frustration invaded her brain. She didn't understand. She couldn't understand. But she was her sister… she could've at least tried. But she didn't. A little voice I her brain told her that the brunette didn't even want to understand.

The red head frowned, letting her anger change her calm features. She saw her sister's eyes grow bigger and recognized the fear and the worry in them. But she wasn't worried for the Pink Puff. She was worried about what she would say or do.

This realization made anger rise in her more than ever. If she would've been a little bit closer to the brunette she knew that she would have been tempted to slap her. But as it was, the red head resumed her actions only at turning her back at the green eyed girl and walking away in the calmest way that she could manage.

She wasn't sure what she was doing. Her mind was a blur. She began walking up the stairs with her brain empty. She felt like it was the first time that she had ever done that. The anger had left her and was replaced by a huge void.

She was faintly aware of the fact that her brunette sister never moved from the spot where she had left her. She ignored that fact that the lab's door had opened and the Professor saw her and called her. She didn't care. She continued to walk towards her room… her own sanctuary. She reached for the doorknob.

"What are you doing here?" she heard. She turned her head to see her blonde sister getting out of the bathroom with a fluffy towel around her skinny body. Her blue eyes were a little confused, but the red head could see that the news hadn't really disturbed the blonde.

For a moment Blossom told herself that she didn't know. But that moment passed quickly. Bubbles knew what had happened. And she didn't care. It brought tears in the red head's eyes. Again she wanted to cry. And this time her tears would listen to her. But she wouldn't do it in front of her sister. She still had enough pride not to cry in front of someone who wouldn't care.

She opened her door and entered her room as calmly as possible. But she could still see the blonde's smirk. She closed the door. Slowly, she walked to her bed and sat on it. She looked around the room. It was order… so much order. It didn't reflect anything of what happened. But then again why would it? Nothing happened there. It all happened far away from the place and now the white haired girl was surrounded by cold metal, lying on a hard surgery table, lifeless and helpless.

She closed her eyes and lay on her back. She had to put some order in her thoughts. She didn't like that fact that she had to leave Bell alone in Dexter's lab, but she had to. She had to think. She had to plan. For a moment she thought that she should include her sisters in her plans, but she pushed away the thoughts. They wouldn't do it. She knew that. They couldn't understand.

The look in their eyes confirmed it all. The image of the White Puff popped in her mind once again. She recalled the way that she died… in her arms. She couldn't do anything… She couldn't take it. She rolled over and screamed in her pillow. The sound was muffled by the mattress, but she didn't care. She continued to scream for almost an hour, trying to get every thought that she had out. She wanted to empty her brain. After some time she began to feel tired and stopped screaming.

Now she was only crying. She was crying like it was the only thing that kept her alive. She continued to do it for many hours. She wasn't thinking anymore. She wasn't seeing anything with her mind's eyes. She could only hear her own sobs. She was vaguely aware that she wasn't alone in the house, that her family was probably wondering what had happened. But she didn't care. She didn't want to think of it. She didn't want to think.

She kept crying until she was too exhausted to continue. Then she slowly got up. She got to her feet and ran her fingers through her messy hair. Now she was calm. She stared at nothing in particular for some time. She didn't feel the need to cry anymore.

She went out of her room and slowly walked down the stairs. Her family was in the living room. She stopped and she listened to them. They were talking about her, of course. She didn't know how long they had been talking, but it sounded like they had been there for some time. They were already thinking how to make things like they used to be… before she ever made friends with Bell. Did they even know when that happened? Of course not. They didn't know anything. They didn't even care.

She went back to her room, but this time she didn't do it so she could cry. She had cried her last tear. Now she needed to respect her promises. As she closed the door she took out the small notebook where she had written all the information she got from the autopsy of her friend's dead body. She reread everything. It was mostly what she had told Dr. X, but she had kept some things to herself.

She walked to her desk and opened her computer. The moment it was active she began working. She transferred the autopsy results on the computer and wrote everything she could remember about what happened (and that was a Hell of a lot). Putting everything together, a plan began to form into her mind.

* * *

That's about it. I know it sucks, but I needed to do something like that. Don't ask why, I just felt like doing it.

See ya' in Chapter 10!


	10. Next

This chapter comes so late I can't even begin to say how late it is. But just in case someone's still interested in this story… Here's Chapter 10!

Thank you CazBM and lovova for your reviews!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything but the plot…

* * *

**The path to death**

Chapter 10: Next…

"Insolent Human!" the small, green being mumbled, furious. "Why must I, ZIM, waste my precious time looking for clues in this ancient place when I should be plotting marvelous plans to rule the world!? Wrecked little brat! Why couldn't you just keep your little pale ass on your bed and not go meet some stupid hero! Grrrr! What would I give for the chance to prove, once and for all that I, Zim, am the mightiest of them all!!! Maybe then I'll be given the respect I deserve!"

He was typing as fast as his gloved hands could. He had been doing so since he got to the Megaville police station and subtly broke into the archives. He growled when he realized that the report about the "Café incident" did not give any information about the victim. The body wasn't in the police's possession.

"Argh!" he shouted, not caring if someone could hear him. "I have wasted half an hour of my precious time, poking this incredibly slow human computer and to what end? Nothing!" he hit the computer's screen, breaking it. He blinked a couple of times, registering what he had just done. An evil grin spread on his face.

"Ha! Ha! Serves you well, you useless contraption!" he shouted. "That is what you get if you mess with Zim! The almighty conqueror!! Mwahahahaha!!!"

In the next moment, he felt something hitting him on the back of his head and sending him with his face right into the hole he had made a few seconds ago.

"Shut up, you little buffoon!" an armored figure hissed at the struggling alien. "You could be heard!" the figured shook his head at Zim, who was still trying to get his head out of the screen. The one that had hit the small alien was wearing a purple mechanical armor. He had a head that resembled a dinosaur and a rather slim body.

"These pathetic mortals will not hear me! And even if they do, there is no way they can harm me, for I am Zim..." the small alien started but he was, again, interrupted by his armored partner with a whack over his head. This time his forehead hit the desk, which cracked under the force of the assault.

"Shut your mouth Irken!" The purple clad figure spoke again, anger obvious in his voice. "Have you found anything of use?" he asked in a demanding tone.

"No…" Zim mumbled, rubbing his head. "These pathetic beings can not conceive a useful report to save their lives" he snickered, trying to count the stars that were still circling his head.

"Dr. X will not be pleased by this…" the figure grunted.

"But what about you, Kurogane… (**A/N:** I don't know the names of those aliens in the DarkStar Council, so just bear with me) Have you found anything of importance?" the green creature asked, eyeing the larger figure.

"I have taken the evidence gathered by the humans from the scene. The body is not in their possession. After we bring everything we found here to the Headquarters' labs we will have to search for the body." The purple figure said.

"It might just be our brat" a new, rougher voice spoke. The two turned to see another robotic looking creature, this one a lot larger than the purple armored one. Its armor was a dark shade of gray. He seemed very muscular and had a fierce look on his face.

"And what makes you think of that possibility, Sekitan?" the other armored figure inquired, not exactly impressed by the consequences of this being true.

"Just think of it. In such situations, humans bring the victimized body to search for clues inside of it. If they don't have it, it means that someone else took it, which leads to the supposition that someone considered that body too important to be left in the hands of the police" the gray one spoke in a calm voice.

The smaller armored beast only stared at larger one, seeming to process the information he was just given. Zim, on the other hand, didn't need much time after the big one had spoken to feel a cold shiver running down his spine. If the "brat" (as many of the DC's members called Bell) was actually dead, then Dr. X would certainly throw a fit. And for some strange reason, every time their hot tempered leader was angry, he found all kinds of reasons to lash out at him (a most dreadful experience).

"They have cleaned the scene." The largest of the creatures spoke again. "Whatever evidence could have been there is no more. However, there were no obvious signs of struggle, which is quite peculiar if we assume that it is really our girl who died there."

"Maybe it's not her…." The smallest alien said, hopefully.

The purple armored creature sighed and shook his head. "I am not certain. There are too many missing pieces to this puzzle. Let us get back to the Headquarters and analyze the evidence we have gathered." The other two nodded and made their way out of the building, without being spotted.

And just as quietly, another figure made its way out, with agile movements and a stern look in its eyes. It had witnessed the entire scene.

At the DarkStar Council's HQ…

"Just great!" a brown haired girl grunted as she gripped her spanner. "Why do we have to clean up after this hot head when we should be making plans to take over this accursed planet?!" she growled to her fellow colleagues.

"Our interests are very alike… and he is the founder and leader of this organization…" a green armored creature spoke in a rather husky voice.

"So what?!" The girl shouted, throwing her tool into the wall, making another hole in it.

"Control your temper, Princess Sam." A smaller creature said. It had a silvery armor and its face was more human than the others', but it still somewhat resembled a lizard.

"Do not scold me, Hagane!" the girl hissed. "I don't understand why we should submit to this hot head when it is obvious that he's the one who should bow to the Mistress! And what does he do?! He mocks her with his insolence and arrogance!" she spoke angrily, hitting the ground with her foot. The others just stared at her, knowing that it was better to let her calm down on her own instead of trying to do something about it.

"And why should I care about that little white brat of his?!?!" she continued to yell. "Lately all she has been doing is being a complete nuisance to all of us! Insolent! Disrespectful! Arrogant! Argh!" she punched the wall next to her. "You know what? I'd be so pleased to hear that the little traitor was put to sleep in that joint! Serves the dirty, little brute well!" she growled the last part.

"Now, Sam, do not hurry to judge." The one that had spoken to her earlier said. "Even with her relationship with the leader of the Power Puff Girls, the child is still a valuable addition to our organization and she has proven many times to be very useful to our plans. Her death could mean a hindrance to our future strategies. And if I may say…" but he couldn't continue.

"You may say nothing!" the brown haired girl shouted again. "I can do just as well as that little brat! Even better!" she shouted as she stomped out of the room. The others stared at the door she had just slammed without being too impressed. Princess Sam was known to be as hot tempered as Dr. X himself, or even more.

"At least she doesn't lack motivation…" the silver armored creature sighed, turning to his previous work.

What the armored aliens did not notice was that Princess Sam was not the only one to leave the room. When they had all turned around a small shadow emerged form its hiding place and swiftly followed the girl who had just exited.

At the entrance of the HQ…

The tall man looked at the door of his own hideout. It was well masked and it couldn't be spotted unless you were very close to it. But at that very moment, he wasn't studying the architecture of the place. His mind wondered back to the discussion he had had with the leader of the Power Puff Girls.

"A sword… Poison…" he mumbled as he concentrated. "But who… who could murder with a sword? And use poison." His mind wondered to a few possibilities but he shook his head. "I must be someone who knew… knew her. But not in just any way… They'd have to know them closely… so they'd be able to tell what kind of effect certain substances have on her…"

Suddenly, his trail of thought was interrupted by the door opening. He blinked a few times at the brown haired girl standing right in front of him. He took a few moments to remember her name.

"Princess Sam" he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. He realized this and shook his head slightly. "What are you doing her?" he said in a stronger tone, scowling at her.

"Doing my job! We don't have a day off after all." She commented in a cold and slightly accusing tone. She glared at him as she stormed off. On any other occasion he would have stopped her and punished her for the insolence. But at that particular moment, he was glad that he could be alone again and mind his own business.

He walked into the building, heading towards his quarters without even thinking about where he was going. He encountered some of the other members of the Council, but he hardly noticed them as they all quickly backed into the wall as he passed them. Being the boss certainly had advantages.

But as he walked something caught his eye. It was the three he had sent to look for clues.

"You!" he almost yelled. All the three figures froze. "What have you found?" the tall man demanded. He watched the three walk towards him. Zim looked pretty terrified and he was slightly shaking, but the other two aliens only had worried expressions on their faces. "Well?" the no-so-patient man asked again.

"Not much, Dr. X. The humans have gathered little information. For some reason, the body of the victim was not in their possession and they did not have any photographical evidence regarding the body, only the crime scene. Apparently there was a lot of spilled blood, but there were no clues of any kind which could indicate a struggle of any magnitude." The gray figure spoke, doing his best to keep a calm appearance.

"We have taken all the evidence we could find and brought it back to be thoroughly analyzed in the Council's labs. After we are finished with the tests we will search for the body." The purple one said.

"It might not be Bell…" the smallest creature said in a weak voice. The tall man's eyes narrowed at the green alien at this comment.

"It is" the man hissed. At this, the others' eyes grew wide and Zim backed down a few steps, though he wasn't sure he did it because of the news or because of the man's tone. Even if the possibility had occurred to them and the two armored creatures had treated it so calmly, the actual fact was truly surprising and even frightening for one of them.

"But sir…" the purple figure began, but stopped when the Dr.'s venomous stare met him. For a moment he thought the man would yell at him. But he didn't. Dr. X glared at each of them, noting the armored creatures' seriousness, though he could see a hint of nervousness in their eyes. He was not surprised to see Zim's frightened eyes and he almost growled at him. The young alien was a true coward at heart. He scowled and he saw all of them twitch in fear. He almost smirked; he liked to spread fright even among his own minions.

"Well? What are you waiting for?!" he started to shout, making all three startle. "You think you're finished already?!" at this the three figures straightened their postures, like soldiers waiting to receive their orders. "You're job is far from done! I want you to double check all the evidence you gathered to look for clues! And I want a full report on my desk before sundown!"

The three aliens didn't wait to be told twice. They almost ran towards the laboratory in the building, dragging the items they had picked up at the station. The leader of the DarkStar Council glared after them. For several minutes, he did his best to control his breathing and along with it the fire on his head which was threatening to burn a hole in the ceiling. After a while, his eyes narrowed and he punched the side of the wall, leaving a hole there. Along with that punch, the fire erupted more violently, making the ceiling above him start to melt. The man started to walk towards his private room again, unconsciously avoiding the melted metal that was slowly dripping from the ceiling.

And just as he did not notice the hot substance that could have done him quite some damage, he did not notice the dark shadow that had been watching him since he set foot into the building. As Dr. X walked away, the small figure made its way out of the DarkStar Council's HQ, quickly disappearing from sight.

Somewhere else…

Darkness enveloped the ruins of what used to be a massive building. It was a cloudy night for that time of the year. The few stars that weren't covered did nothing but to deepen the shadows around the structure. Metal and stone lay around forgotten, some bearing the marks of an old fire.

No cricket bothered to ring its soft song around the scattered ruins. The small rodents that made their nests there were silent and the few snakes and lizards moved around carefully, without making a sound.

While a lazy breeze made the few leaves and bushes rustle, a shadow moved from its previous position. As silently as all the other creatures that inhabited the ruined landscape, the figure made its way through the scattered rubble to a point in the structure where the walls were still somewhat standing. A sure hand moved towards a small bush and in a matter of seconds a hidden door opened. The figure climbed down the stairs which were revealed, at a steady pace, making sure that the entrance was properly sealed. A reddish light glowed in the narrow corridor.

The shadow did not pay any attention to its surroundings and continued its descent. After passing through dimly lit hall, it opened a small iron door and went in. The room was large and it resembled a workshop. There were tools and materials carefully stashed on the many tables in the room. Each one had some kind of machinery resting on them. Most were only halfway done, some were merely projects and others seemed ready to be used.

It first headed towards one of the tables on which there were many files, resting in perfect order, some vials with colored liquids inside them and different kinds of metal, neatly stashed on the long worktable. The shadow stopped in front of it and silently contemplated the two objects that were resting in the middle of the table: a long, sharp sword and a small bottle containing a clear liquid. Out of one of its outfit's pockets, the figure pulled out a silver cross, not larger than its palm, and placed it on the sword so its top end would touch the small bottle. With a satisfied nod, it turned around.

The dark figure then walked to the far wall and took out a piece of paper and a small vial with a red liquid from its clothes. But unlike the other walls that were gray, this one was painted. The entire structure was made into a very detailed map of Megaville and its surroundings. Without even blinking, the shadow poured the red liquid on its fingers and drew an X on the map. Then it taped the paper to the wall and took a step back to admire the change. On the place where a small café should have been, was a red X from which thin rivers of liquid started running down the wall. The shadow took a moment to look at the paper which had been placed exectly beneath the red X. It was really a picture… a picture of a white haired girl, sitting on a toilet seat with a big cross-shaped wound on her abdomen.

With a small smirk on its lips and a soft twinkle in its cold eyes, the figure turned, heading towards one of the worktables which was close by. Once there, it took one look on some scattered papers as its hand reached for a chain which had an iron collar attached to it. Its smirk grew wider as it brought the collar up to study it. The metal band was thick and it had spikes. But what was unusual about it was that the tilted, razor sharp spikes were on the inside part of the collar.

"Next…" a quiet hiss escaped the shadow's parted lips as its smirk became an evil grin.

* * *

Well… Cliffhanger.

I hope you liked it and… I'll see you next time.


	11. Analysis

**Disclaimer: **Nothing changed since last time…

Enjoy!

* * *

**The path to death**

Chapter 11: Analysis

A red headed, teenaged girl strolled silently through the quiet forest. A soft breeze made the leaves rustle while her long hair danced along with the wind. Her attention, however, was far away from her surroundings. She had come here to get away, to clear her head and to think things through. And did she have what to think about…

She had begun her investigation immediately after she had her action plan at hand. She had done her best to address the issue as calmly as possible, to chase away the passion and make space for logic. "Revenge is sweeter when served cold" went the saying. "Indeed" she thought "And in this case it can only be served cold".

She had followed her plan step by step, thoroughly, doing her best to gather as much information as possible. After putting together a clear report of her autopsy she had gone back to Dexter's lab and took Bell's body away. The boy had woken up, but she could see that he hadn't disturbed her now cold friend. The white haired girl's body had been hidden well, since the Pink Puff didn't want anybody poking around. She had claimed the case and she wouldn't allow anyone to interfere.

Afterwards she went back to the small café where it had all happened. She was lucky that the police had finished gathering any evidence they could find and already left the building. She had her own work to do.

Flashback

_The bell above the shop's door rang softly as the door opened and closed. The owner, a medium sized man, not tall but n__ot short either, with brown hair which had already started to give way to baldness but not to the grey shade that age usually brings, and a carefully trimmed mustache, turned from the show he was watching on the big TV screen in the shop. He was in his middle 50's, but he was still pretty lively. His large eyebrows furrowed as his green eyes darkened at the sight before him. His thin lips twitched slightly in impatience. _

_The person that had entered was a tall woman with short blonde hair and sharp, violet eyes. But her tanned skin and toned body did nothing to soften the man's frown. The woman was wearing a pair of black pants and a blue short sleeved shirt with a black tie and the police's signs. The woman took a moment to take in her surroundings, then walked confidently towards the man. _

"_Mr. Godfrey?" she asked, the question merely a formality. The man nodded anyway._

"_I am Detective Bianca Vaintrub from Megaville Police. I am sorry for not being able to arrive at the same time as my colleagues. I was given the case only half an hour ago. I would like to ask you some questions." The woman spoke, the professional tone obvious._

"_If ya' think I have anythin' else ta' say now than what I a'ready told the others yesterday, then go right ahead. I tell ya', not many folks have been coming in here since the discovery." The owner said, upset that the story wasn't over yet and that his customers had decided to avoid him for the day. The woman seemed to ignore the tone and the last part of what he said._

"_First off, do you know the victim?" the woman asked._

"_It'd be pretty hard not to, missy. All town knows that girl. She's a nasty one, I tell ya'. She's with this crook group that's been wrecking havoc 'round here for a while… Though I've got no idea how she ended up in ma' bath. I don't remember seeing her and I tell ya': I've got no problem recognizing a familiar face when I see it." The woman nodded and scribbled something on a small notebook._

"_Now sir, I would like you to try and remember everyone that came in here yesterday morning, especially anyone who looked suspicious. I'd also like to know if you remember who went to the bathroom." The blonde spoke, eyeing the man carefully._

"_Well miss__y, that's no easy task, I tell ya'. But I'll do ma' best ta' remember." The man nodded, crossing his arms. "Let's see… I opened up at 8 o'clock, like every monin'. First ta' come in were ta' joggers. Since this place is so close to tha' park, all the kids who go running around in tha' monin' come here when they're done, just tha' chill a bit before going home. I remember three o' them commin' right after I opened; two girls and one lad. I know 'em all; they're regulars. They all go to tha' University here. One o' tha' girls, Cassy's her name, is in med school; sweet girl… always smilin'. The other two go ta' law school: tha' guy name's James, they call tha' girl Sugar, 'cause she's addicted to tha' stuff. Nice kids… really nice. None o' 'em went ta' tha' bath, though. _

_A lot of other kids came in after that…__ mostly highschoolers. I remember two o' tha' girls goin' ta' tha' bath… to fix their make up I guessed. I tell ya', I'll never get it what they need that junk when they're runnin'… That's wha' I thought when I saw 'em goin'. One o' 'em's named Shirley: blonde hair, blue eyes really loud voice, tha' other's a real short asian girl, never remembered her name; they're glued ta' each other. I know some other kids went ta' tha' bath, but I can't remember who. _

_A couple with a kid came in… looked like tourists. T__ha' mom and tha' lil' girl went ta' the bath. Tha' dad had his nose stuck in a map._

_Professor Jack from Megaville High came along too at one point. Probably just finished walking his dog. A flock o' girls came in after him swoonin' like crazy. I tell ya' the guy's too nice ta' them! If I were him, I'd tell 'em ta' mind their own business. I think all of 'em took a trip ta' tha' bath before they left. Tha' professor went too, just ta' clean his dog, 'casue one o' ta' girls spilled some coffee on him. Clumsy kid… _

_There was this quiet girl too… she's been comin' around here for a while; o__rders sum'thin' and sits down ta' read. Really good kid. Sometimes, when she walks I think of a dancer. She went ta' tha' bath before she left. A nice kid… always polite._

_There was a group of guys too… I don't know 'em that well, but usually when they come they're real' loud. Sometimes I have ta' go tell them ta' shut their yaps. They were pretty quiet today though… But that's probably b'cause their "boss" wasn't around. _

_I remember one __o' ma' other regulars comin' in; lovely girl. Bridgett's her name; blue hair, black eyes, usually wears white. Most o' tha' time she's here with her friend, Beatrix. Nice kid too: black hair, brown eyes, wears glasses. She looks like a smart one. They weren't here together this time… but anyway, happened before. I think she went ta' tha' bath before she left 'cause she always does. I didn't notice her comin' out though, but that's not weird 'cause there were many people around at that time._

_There was an emo kid too… came up and asked 'bout some weird ice cream I never heard about, then took a coffee and sat down at a corner table. I know __he went ta tha' bath and he came out lookin' kinda' sick._

_There were a few other kids comin' in, but they didn't catch my eye. Except for a guy with a laptop and a big pair o' glasses. He looked l__ike an alien. I think he went ta' tha' bath, 'cause at one point I didn't see him and then he appeared again. _

_Blossom Utonium came somewhere around noon and you know the rest… found that girl in ma' bath…" the man exhaled like after a great effort. The blonde woman wrote something down on her small notebook and looked at him again._

"_So… nothing out of the ordinary?" she spoke._

"_No missy, not any weirder than usual. I don't know why you need ta' know this anyway, since I really can't remember tha' girl being here… Maybe someone just dumped her here after they were done with her…" the man answered, waving his hand a bit as if dismissing the thought that the crime could actually have taken place in his café. He didn't catch the twitch of the detective eye when he spoke the last part._

"_Would it be possible that something happened while you were away, say, in the kitchen?" the woman said._

"_Might have, missy, but I don't think so… remember, tha' girl was pretty famous around here and I'd think that if she walked in people would notice. But whenever I left I could still hear tha' normal buzzing of people talkin'. Like I said, nothin' more than tha' usual…" came the answer. The detective nodded. _

"_Can I have a look at the crime scene?" she asked and didn't miss the grimace of the man when she called his bathroom a "crime scene"._

"_Knock yourself out, missy. Though I don't know what else you could find… your buddies already cleaned tha' place up." The man made a small gesture with his hand towards the small corridor that led to the bathrooms. The detective nodded again and headed in that direction. _

_She couldn't stop a cold shiver running down her spine as she opened the door. The room looked like anything but a crime scene. The walls and floor had been cleaned of the blood and there was nothing to suggest a struggle. After talking a deep breath, the blonde took a few confident steps in. _

_First she walked to the cabin where the white haired girl had been found. This had been cleaned too, but she looked anyway. She inspected to toilet seat. "Doesn't look like there has been much pressure… So she was already drugged when she got here…" she searched for any other clues around the seat, but couldn't find any. She stood up and tuned around, looking at the sinks on the other side of the room. She frowned and went directly towards the one opposite to the cabin. Unlike the others, this one was slightly bent downwards._

"_Hm… I don't remember this…" she whispered to herself as she kneeled to take a better look. The wall behind the sink was slightly cracked as the metal support had been forced into it. "So she was still pretty conscious here…" the woman looked back at the cabin. "Quite a small distance… must've been very strong stuff, even for her." She sighed and gripped the sink. She took a minute before standing up. That's when a small light caught her eye._

"_What do we have here?" she said and went towards the corner of the room, where the trash can was. She had no problem finding the shiny object: a piece of silvery metal. She recognized it immediately. "It's from her buckle!" her eyes widened a bit at the realization and she turned to the cabin. "But how… ?" She walked back to the open door. _

"_She had her clothes off… so why should this just randomly break and fly all the way through the room?" she asked herself as she gripped the small piece of metal. "Unless… they undressed her after… how does that make sense? They obviously didn't notice this flying off or they wouldn't have left it lying around. This was too well thought through to leave a clue like this…"_

_Her eyes wondered to the right and she noticed something she hadn't in the first place. There was a mark on the door frame which looked like quite some pressure had been applied there. "Hm, that's weird… pressure there…" she looked at the sink "pressure here…" she looked at the door frame "but none there…" she looked at the toilet seat. "Now this is strange… why not go for the attacker instead of trying to stop her movement if she still had strength…"_

_She took a closer look at the wood. "Oh… this wasn't her..." she spoke, tracing the mark which was too big to have been made by the hand of a teenage girl; even a super-powered one. "This is too obvious…" she said and frowned. "No one would've left this kind of mark after being so careful not to leave any traces." She thought, then realization struck her. "Heh, looks like I'm not the only one looking for clues… though he could've considered sending someone who wouldn't be noticed afterwards…" she smirked slightly._

_The woman turned again and started to thoroughly inspect the small room. She checked the other cabins and the entire floor, just in case any other clues had escaped the criminal's attention. She found none. The walls had no unusual marks on them and so did the small window of the room. She checked that twice, looking for any signs that it had been forced. No such thing: the glass, the wooden frame and the metal bars outside of it were intact. She looked at the door "So they both came in and went out the door." After another quick look she exited the small room. She saw the owner sitting behind the cupboard, reading the paper. She walked towards him._

"_Found anythin' new?" the man asked, looking up at her. The woman smiled slightly and shook her head._

"_Not much" she lied._

"_Told ya'…" he answered._

"_Can you remember who came here today?" she asked._

"_Sure, missy. There weren't many anyway. Cassy, James and Sugar came in this monin' like usual. We talked a bit. They were all kinda' freaked out 'bout what happened here, 'specially Sugar. I don't blame 'em. I'm pretty freaked out myself. None of tha' other joggers came, though, and those three went away pretty soon. They didn't use tha' bath, if ya' were wonderin' 'bout that. There was a tall guy who came in not long ago and ordered a coffee; didn't seem ta' know tha' news. I don't know if he went ta' tha' bath or not, 'cause I had ta' go answer a phone call in tha' back. He was still there when I came back though. And that's it. Told ya' there weren't many." The woman nodded after he finished talking. _

"_Thank you, sir." She said._

"_No prob', missy. 'Glad to help out." He answered._

"_Good day." She said before turning to leave. _

"_Ya' too, missy" came the response._

_The blonde woman closed the shop's door after her. But instead of heading towards the Police Station, she walked in the opposite direction. Upon reaching a deserted alley, she made sure no one was around and reached for her belt. With a swift movement her image was blurred for a second and then, in the place of the blonde detective, stood Blossom Utonium. _

End of Flashback

She sighed heavily and hugged herself. That had happened the previous day. She had indeed learned a lot from her little investigation at the café. When she had found Bell there she had no time to take in her surroundings and the last of her worries was to look for clues.

Bridgett… actually Bell. Whenever she'd go there with her friend, they'd have the special belts on that helped them to change their appearance. Hanging out with Dexter did bring some advantages. She'd play Beatrix and Bell would be Bridgett. They often talked with the owner about old movies, a subject that the man was hopelessly in love with. Bell liked to go see the movies that he talked about and then come back and tell him her impressions.

That morning, it wasn't that the owner didn't see Bridgett coming out of the bathroom; she actually hadn't come back out. She was pretty sure that whoever killed her had been in the café. She wished that the small shop would have video cameras, but the owner always thought about them as a waste of money. He was certain his classic security system was enough. Plus, he didn't want to make his customers feel awkward about being "watched" all the time they were in the shop.

The Pink Puff was certain that the tall man who the owner said that had been in, the morning after the "incident", had been the one that left the marks on the cabin door's frame. One of the DarkStar Council, she was sure. She knew that Dr. X would order his men to look for clues and that was why she had hidden Bell's body: she didn't want them to find it in Dexter's lab and steal it. The last thing she wanted was her friend in their hands again.

She still had far too little evidence to start guessing who could be the killer. Hell, she wasn't even sure that the owner had remembered them and they might have been using a special gadget to hide their appearance, just like she and Dr. X's man did. But she did have enough clues to start piecing together the events.

By now she knew that the murderer had used a sword, though she had no idea how such a simple weapon could hurt a Chemical X being. She had yet to figure that out, but she intended to do so. What she did know was that the wielder was far from being an expert, even though the cuts seemed very precise. She guessed that they had practiced that particular move to make a clean cut and make it look like a professional did it. However, the broken piece of metal gave it away. The sword is a weapon that requires precise movement and an excellent control over one's own strength. A good swordsman would have never applied too much force in one blow, even if the victim was a super-powered girl.

Whoever it was, they were pretty short, or the disguise they used was short, though she doubted that the criminal had kept the disguise while doing their job. It was all too passionate. The blows were too strong when they could have been more tempered. Especially the second one which cut so deep that it almost reached the girl's spine. Obviously, it sliced right through the lungs and it even touched the lower part of the heart. It was like the murderer wasn't satisfied with the first cut. Then there were the other wounds. From the autopsy, Blossom could tell that they were made after the two cuts. This didn't make much sense to the red head. It could have been obvious for anyone that those were fatal wounds and no other effort would have been necessary to ensure the kill. After all, the other signs of violence were far from being deadly: broken arms, small cuts on her face and bruises over her body. It suggested that the murderer thought that the punishment hadn't been enough and that some more, this time focusing more on the pain than anything else, was necessary.

At first, the pink eyed girl had thought that it might have been a case of sexual assault, since her clothes had been removed and the position her arms had showed that she had been bound in some way. Her supposition had been proven wrong by the autopsy: there had been no penetration and she couldn't find any traces of sexual assault anywhere on the body. The mystery of the clothes still remained. She had guessed that the attacker might have thought about sexual assault, but changed their mind afterwards. But she quickly dismissed the possibility. It was clear that whoever did that knew what they were doing and they acted according to a plan.

She was pretty sure that the person was left handed by the place where she had found the piece of metal. It was the only explanation as to why it took that particular angle. She dismissed the possibility of someone knocking the object there. She knew that the killer didn't notice it and for that to happen, the object had to have landed in a spot where it was hard to see. There weren't many other places where it could have landed so it would remain unnoticed and there was none which offered the possibility of it being carelessly knocked all the way to where she had found it.

The criminal had done everything to cover their tracks. The body had been purposively placed on the toilet seat before the attack, so the blood could flow directly in the toilet and not be noticed unless someone would open the door. There were also no cuts on any place that could bleed anywhere else. Now that she thought about it, the girl's legs had not only been spread out, but they were also brought a little forward so someone on the outside could see that there was a person in the cabin and not disturb. The only reason why she hadn't noticed this was because she was too deep in thought at that time to actually look. Otherwise she was pretty sure she wouldn't have opened that door and wouldn't have found her friend murdered there. She was, however, sure that it hadn't happened too long before she came in, since the girl had still been alive. And no matter how strong she was and how good of a healer Chemical X was, she couldn't have survived with a direct cut to the lungs and the heart.

Another mystery was the poison that had practically paralyzed Bell. She had absolutely no idea what that could have been. She had found traces of different substances, but nothing clear. The symptoms also didn't fit any poison she could think of. She was pretty sure that the murderer had made that poison especially for Bell. She was surprised that she didn't find any traces of Antidote X. This had totally blown her away. That meant the girl still had her powers when she was attacked with the sword, which raised serious questions about the weapon that had been used.

She was certain that the poison had been injected, because she had found a needle mark on the back of her neck. She wasn't sure if the killer did it in the bathroom or before that. What she did know was that they either were very fast or had a very light hand, so the white haired girl wouldn't feel the needle singing her. She supposed the poison started to take serious effect when the girl was by the sink and it was then that she had unintentionally bent the object. She thought that it could have a slow effect at first and when Bell started to feel weaker she went to the bathroom (supposing the killer drugged her before she went there) or it could have had an immediate and very strong effect (if she had been injected in the bathroom). Either way, she still knew nothing of the substance's origin.

She was now on her way to the DarkStar Council's base of operations. Bell had shown her where it was so she could sneak in there whenever she wanted to see her. The base wasn't actually on Earth, but somewhere in outer space. What she was heading to right now was a cleverly hidden intermediary base which had portals to the real thing. She knew a few secret entrances and passageways in both buildings that would help her go unnoticed by the Council's members. Since she was sure that one of them had come to the café earlier that morning, she was also certain that Dr. X had sent his men to poke around in the police's archives as well and take whatever they could find. Which meant that there was no point in going to the police to see what they had gathered. Whatever it was, it was now at the Council's HQ.

She closed her eyes, formulating a plan that would help her sneak away with any evidence they had (which was probably the main attraction there at the moment). She was just hoping she wouldn't run into Dr. X. She had had just about enough of him for a while.

As she quickened her pace she kept her eyes closed in concentration. Suddenly she felt her feet land into something wet.

"Funny…" she thought "it hasn't rained in days. There shouldn't be any puddles" she opened her eyes in curiosity only to realize that it wasn't water what she had stepped in. It was a thick red liquid which was all too familiar to her now: blood.

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Done! I hope you liked it!


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